Draco's Prisoner
by Casey Stardust
Summary: Not only was Hermione a prisoner in Draco's family home, Malfoy Manor, but the Malfoy heir had also managed to capture her heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Draco's Prisoner**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I am making no money from the writing of this story!

**Summary:** Not only was Hermione a prisoner in Draco's family home, Malfoy Manor, but the Malfoy heir had also managed to capture her heart.

**_Chapter One_**

Hermione groaned as she awoke on the cold stone floor of the dungeons, her body aching and stiff. Her lips were chapped and bloody, she tried to sooth them by wetting them with her tongue, but her mouth was so dry that she didn't achieve anything by licking them.

Her stomach grumbled hungrily, she was only given a very small and unsatisfactory meal once each day, along with a glass of water, it was enough to keep her alive, but not much more than that.

She had been captured in an ambush approximately 6 weeks ago and had first been taken to an abandoned building that some of the death eaters had been using for a home, before being transported via side-along apparition to Malfoy Manor where she estimated she had been for slightly over a month.

Despite the fact that she was being held prisoner in their home, she hadn't seen any of the Malfoy's once during her time there so far. Her only human interaction was with the death eater's who came to taunt, tease and torture her, and she didn't know if it could be considered 'human' interaction given that the men acted more like animals than people. She was relieved that the frequency of these visits had lessened now, clearly the novelty of having one of the golden trio held prisoner, was wearing off.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs that led to the dungeons, and she desperately hoped that it was someone bringing her daily rations to her. It wasn't. It was one of the death eaters who came down to 'visit' her the most and a death eater buddy of his, whom she didn't think she had seen before, although she didn't always remember their faces. She assumed that they were here to gawk and laugh at her in her pitiful state; she was feeling a lot like a badly treated animal in a zoo these days.

She noticed that the death eater she hadn't seen before was stroking his wand and had lustful desire in his eyes, not lust for her body, which really wasn't much to look at these days, but lust for her blood, and her screams. She prepared herself for a pain filled day; tears already pricking her eyes as she sat huddled on the floor anticipating the agony that she would have to endure.

"Cruc..." Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, terrified. But the death eater was interrupted before he could finish the curse.

"Mulciber" a familiar drawl met her ears. "My father needs you in his study" Malfoy was standing halfway down the stairs, and Hermione could only just make him out in the dimly lit room. When the death eater, Mulciber, looked back towards Hermione, wand still pointed, Malfoy snarled; "Now".

Mulciber looked disappointed but sneered at her as he said to her "Don't worry, I'll be back for you later, Mudblood" and with that he twirled around and strode out of the room, black robes billowing out behind him.

Hermione had never been happier to see the Ferret in her life, especially when he made his way down the stairs, and she saw that he was carrying her daily tray of food. When he reached the bars of her prison cell he stood there for a second.

"Hello, Granger" He said, his tone light and conversational as he passed the tray of food through the bars, the tray fitted through easily, despite the fact that it was about four times as long as the gap in the bars.

Malfoy leant back against the wall smirking at her as she greedily drank down half of the water in the glass, not wanting to finish it all straight away; the water soothed her parched throat and she had to force herself to put the glass down still half full. She ate the food slowly; there was a slightly stale dinner roll, a slice of cold roast meat that was mostly fat and gristle, and a thick slice of cheese that had a small spot of mould on it.

Hermione wondered if they kept food until it was old and off, on purpose, or if they just gave her the food that they would have thrown out otherwise. If it was the latter, she wondered whether she would get anything at all if they only had fresh food in the house. The dry bread scraped her sore dry throat as she swallowed it in small bites, unable to resist; she drank the rest of the water to sooth her throat.

"Thirsty, Granger?" Malfoy smirked, Hermione had almost forgotten that he was there, she glared at him. He pulled out his wand, she stopped eating and cowered on the floor, she hated herself for being so weak, especially in front of Malfoy. She glanced up at him fearfully to see a confused look on his face as he looked down at her cowering form. He took a step forward and stopped as she flinched. He pointed his wand towards her.

"_Aguamenti_" he said, and her glass was re filled with water.

Hermione looked up him shocked, "Th, thank you" Hermione whispered; her voice rough and cracked, a result of the screams that had been forced through her voice box; as well as from dehydration. A look passed over Malfoy's face that Hermione couldn't quite work out, but it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced with the famous Malfoy sneer before he strode up the stairs and was gone.

The next time she saw Malfoy was two weeks later, and he didn't come all the way down the stairs.

The death eater, who was bringing her food to her that day, had just purposefully knocked over the one glass of water she received per day.

"Oops..." He smirked as the water tipped. Hermione almost burst into tears as the precious liquid spilled from the glass, but of course that would have required having spare water in her body to use for tears.

"Clean that up and refill the glass" Malfoy's cool voice said from the stairs

"What?" asked the death eater, confused.

"I said clean up the water you just knocked over, and refill the glass. Is any of that too difficult for your thick head to comprehend?" Malfoy sneered at the death eater, who was clearly below him in rank. The death eater scowled at Hermione, as if she had caused him to humiliate himself in front of Malfoy. He grudgingly did what he was told, and Hermione was, again, immensely grateful to Draco Malfoy.

"You're wanted in the drawing room" Malfoy stated his reason for coming down, after the death eater had done what he was told. The man strode from the room, brushing past Malfoy on his way up the stairs. Malfoy lingered for a moment, watching her, before turning and following the other man up the steps.

The next few days felt like they went on for weeks, she guessed that a new lot of death eaters were staying at the Manor, as more people, if they could be called people, came down to her prison to taunt and torture her. Hermione thought of Neville's parents and hoped desperately that she wouldn't end up losing her mind like they had. The few times she had tried to stand up, her legs wouldn't support her and she only made it a few steps across the floor before they gave way underneath her and she collapsed to the floor exhausted from the effort of trying to use her tired muscles.

She was just trying once again to stand up and use her legs, when Malfoy came down the stairs once again. He looked away when he saw her collapse to the ground again breathing hard, and didn't mention her failed attempt at standing up he just pushed her meal towards her through the bars and walked out.

His occasional appearance in the dungeons continued like this for a while. Occasionally he would greet her as he came in, or he would stay a few moments before leaving and sometimes he even refilled her glass for her; one time he came down he sat there without saying anything to her, and refilled her glass three times before getting up and leaving the room. Hermione was starting to look forward to the days he would visit her, and when he did she would smile at him as he came in.

Hermione was starving today, no one had brought her any food the day before and her stomach was aching, so she was incredibly happy when it was Draco who came down the stairs carrying the usual tray of stale food. She didn't know when she had started referring to him as Draco rather Malfoy, or Ferret, but one day she had shocked herself, and him, when she had thanked him by saying 'Thank you, Draco' after he had given her food to her.

Today Draco didn't stay, he slid the food in and left hastily, without looking at her once; Hermione thought that he looked oddly guilty while doing this, but shrugged away the thought.

She realised what the look on his face was about when she bit into the bread, which looked and felt just as old and dry as usual but when she tore off a chunk and put it into her mouth it was soft and moist; it tasted freshly baked. He had charmed a tray of fresh food to look like the old stale food she was usually given. When she had finished eating the delicious food she thought that she felt fuller than she had felt the entire time she had been held prisoner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Draco's Prisoner**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I am making no money from the writing of this story!

**A/N:** Hey, I managed to get another chapter for Draco's Prisoner written, though my bestenemies baby is still my priority at the moment, so it might be a while before i get the next chapter for DP written.

This is pretty much the first chapter, but from Draco's POV. So you learn a bit more about him and his reasons for helping Hermione.

Hope you enjoy. I wrote it pretty quickly so let me know about mistakes and things that I missed! Thankyou!!

**_Chapter Two_**

Draco hated life as a Death Eater, as the Dark Lords servant, and feeling like he was his father's property, rather than his own person. He couldn't do anything for himself; anything he did had to benefit the Dark Lord – or his father.

He had never liked torturing people for the fun of it, and these days he felt sick when people who he had know his entire life found joy in causing other people pain.

He didn't even believe in the Dark Lords cause anymore, ever since Hogwarts, he had started to question his family's beliefs. Hermione Granger – The woman who was imprisoned in the basement of Malfoy Manor at this very minute – had taught him that muggle-borns were no different than purebloods. She had always been the top of their class at school, and no matter how hard he tried he could never beat her at academics. He had been better than her in one class – potions; but Draco thought that that was probably only because he was Snape's favourite student, and Granger had been one of his least favourite.

Draco sighed, he didn't know what to do about his situation; he didn't want to continue serving the Dark Lord, but he didn't really have another option, he couldn't go to the order as he would never be trusted, and Voldemort would end up finding him if he just ran away and went into hiding, and however much he hated watching others being tortured he would prefer to watch – or even do the torturing – than be the victim of the torturer.

The first time he had taken her food to her he had done it because he had to go down to get Mulciber anyway so he had taken the tray from the Death Eater who was about to take it down.

When he saw how weak and scared she looked he couldn't quite believe that it was the same person that he had known in school. The girl he knew had been strong willed and tough, she would never have given up hope the way the woman cowering in front of him had.

He immediately felt a huge amount of rage towards the people who had done this to her, he felt even more fed up with Voldemort and the whole damn war.

He hadn't gone down again after that, not wanting to see the fear and pain in her now dull eyes that used to flash with emotion – generally anger and irritation when she had looked at him, but emotion nonetheless. He had been sent on a task for the Dark Lord and had been away for a week, when he got back he was asked to go and find Rowle as he was needed by Lucius. Draco had walked half way down the stairs and seen the brute purposefully spill Grangers water. He probably shouldn't have said anything; he wasn't supposed to care about anything that happened to the Mudblood, but he was overtaken by anger towards the Death Eater and the life he was in, yet again. So he demanded that Rowle clean it up and refill her glass and made sure he did it, he could see the surprise and the gratefulness in her eyes again, just as he had two weeks prior. And it made him feel better than he had in a long time, he realised that being able to help someone instead of hurting them gave him an incredible feeling; as though he wasn't all evil, that the world wasn't all evil. The look in her eyes gave him back his hope, and made him want to strive to make the world a better place.

He still didn't know how that was possible for someone in his position though, and it made him even more frustrated than before.

New Death Eaters came to stay at the Manor, and he knew that they were going down to the dungeons and torturing Granger, he was pretty sure that if he saw them in the act of ripping screams from her throat he would try to stop them; and he couldn't do that as the Death Eaters would start to question his loyalty to their Lord; so he didn't go back down for a few days. And when he did eventually go down to see her he made sure that he knew that no one was there.

He wished he hadn't gone down when he saw her struggle to her feet, only to collapse again a moment later panting for breath. He left as soon as he could, unable to bear the sight of her so weak and helpless.

After that day his visits to her became fairly regular, he would bring her food to her every few days. If she was looking particularly weak he left soon after handing her the food, other times he sometimes stayed for a little while, leaning or sitting against the wall. He knew that this woman was probably the only person in the whole house that shared his views on everything.

He started enjoying his visits to her more as she became more comfortable in his presence; she sometimes even smiled when he came in.

She was looking slightly better these days, and Draco felt an odd sense of pride that it was most likely because he had been giving her extra water most days he went down.

During dinner one night the Dark Lord had organized for there to be some 'entertainment' as it was the two year anniversary of his resurrection. The entertainment consisted of five female muggles, they looked as though they ranged from about 10 years old to 30 years old.

His fellow Death Eaters had a wonderful time after dinner torturing and raping the unfortunate muggles. Draco found it hard to keep his dinner down, and was trying as hard as he could to look as though he was enjoying the sight and sound of their terror and pain.

He obviously hadn't done as good a job as he had hoped as his father had sent him a few odd looks, but thankfully no one had asked him about his lack of enjoyment. He was also glad that no one had asked him why he wasn't joining in the 'fun'.

That night when he had been excused to go to bed he had been angry and frustrated at himself for not being able to do anything. He knew he would never be able to help in situations like that but was sure that there must be something he could do. And realised that he may not be able to make a huge difference in the war, but there was one witch who he had enough access to that he would easily be able to help her without being found out.

So the next time Draco took a tray down to Granger he filled it with fresh food that had been cooked for his family for lunch that day and he transfigured it to look the same as it usually did so that he did not arouse suspicion.

He was nervous as he took the tray of food to her and didn't look her in the eye as he entered, just handed her the tray and left as quickly as he could.

* * *

**A/N: **I know it wasn't long, but I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think :o)


	3. Chapter 3

**Draco's Prisoner**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I am making no money from the writing of this story!

**A/N:** I'm sorry it is such a short chapter (shortest chapter I have ever posted), but thought that I would upload it anyway, since I havn't added a chapter to this fic in a while!

Enjoy:

**_Chapter Three_**

Whenever Draco brought her food, which was generally every few days, he brought her a tray of transfigured fresh food. It had been two weeks since the first time, and Hermione already felt so much better for the extra nutrients. She was still constantly uncomfortable on hard dirty stone floor, but she felt stronger, and she realised that it wasn't just because of the extra food; but also because of Draco, she now had hope again. Not hope for herself, because while he was able to bring her food, she knew that he wasn't about to risk his life in order to get her out of this horrid place. But before, she had lost her faith in all people, Draco had reminded her that not everyone in the world were cruel and heartless animals, she had regained her hope that Voldemort would one day fall, and that the world would be a pleasant place to live once again. Although, she thought, the likelihood that she would be there when that day came was rather slim.

She was thinking about this one day when a death eater came down to bring her food, and she must have had a small smile on her face as she thought of Voldemort's downfall.

The death eater had put her tray down for her and scowled at the look on her face.

"What are you smiling about, filth?" he had questioned her while drawing his wand.

This time, instead of lowering her eyes and cowering in front of her torturer, like she had started doing not long after her capture; she looked up and looked him directly in the eyes as he aimed the cruciatus curse at her. She screamed and writhed in pain, her fingernails breaking as she clawed at the floor underneath her.

She had tears of pain running down her cheeks as the curse was lifted, she let out a single sob of fear and pain before she started laughing. Because there was nothing more that they could do to her here, they could only kill her, and wouldn't that be a blessing in disguise? Her thoughts were no longer about herself, she had accepted that this was her life now and she would most likely die here; now she was thinking about the larger scheme of things and she knew that not everyone in the world were bastards, even if they pretended they were. And these people, these men, who enjoyed seeing her pain, didn't matter anymore; they couldn't break her, because she had already been broken.

This new found hope felt like the best feeling in the world, it was a much stronger feeling than the fear and pain, and that's what enabled her to sit up, turn around and look the man in the eyes once again. She would not cower in her cell when the big bad death eaters came to visit, she was stronger than that - even if she had forgotten for a while - and she refused to let them break her anymore than they already had.

'_You may tie my hands with chains and my feet with shackles, and put me in the dark prison, but you shall not enslave my thinking, for it is free, like the breeze in the spacious sky'_ she quoted to herself before she spat at the man through the cell bars and was immediately slammed back to the floor; her back arching in pain, but this time she clenched her teeth together and only let out a strangled groan, rather than a full on scream as pain racked her body.

She lay there panting for a moment when the pain stopped before rolling over to see the edge of the man's black cloak disappearing up the stairs. Her body slumped and she stayed there for a moment, recovering still, before gingerly crawling to the tray of food, wincing at the pain in her bloodied fingers as she brought the cup to her cracked lips.

A few days later, she woke from a fitful sleep to hear someone stomping loudly down the stairs. She quickly sat up; she had discovered early on that death eaters tended to think that the sight of her waking suddenly to the cruciatus curse was highly entertaining.

But when she looked up to see who had come to torment her this time, she saw Draco standing there a look of hatred on his face as he cast what she assumed were numerous silencing charms around the room before he put his wand away and screamed through his teeth, letting out his frustrations. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, panting and furious, she was sure that had he been a girl or even a feminine man he would have been stomping his foot.

He still hadn't looked at her when he started to yell.

"I hate him, I hate him! I hate them all!" He took a deep breath before he turned his face towards her. He took out his wand and double checked the wards he had put up when he came down. Before he asked her something that completely shocked her, she knew that he wasn't all bad, but she had never thought that he would completely turn his back on the life he had lived for so long. "How do I join the Order of the Phoenix? How do I make them trust me? I can't take this anymore! I want out of this life. Tell me what I have to do to get out of here!" He demanded answers from her before he slid down the wall behind him and sat there with his head in his hands.

* * *

**A/N:**

"You may tie my hands with chains and my feet with shackles, and put me in the dark prison, but you shall not enslave my thinking, for it is free, like the breeze in the spacious sky"- Kahlil Gibran

Casey

xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

**Draco's Prisoner**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I am making no money from the writing of this story!

**A/N:** Not quite as long a wait this time!! ... I am supposed to be doing an assignment that I have to hand in tomorrow! but I did this instead haha, its now 1am ... its going to be a long night! :o(

Sorry if it seems very rushed.... it, well, it was very rushed!

Anyway .. read on:

**_Chapter Four_**

"Draco? Hermione's voice rasped and she cleared her throat, "Malfoy? Are you ok?" She asked through the bars.

"Can the order help me?" He asked her, "Can you help me?" He laughed as he looked up. "You're the one locked in a cell in the dungeon and I'm asking _you_ for help."

She smiled at him, and her cheeks ached, the expression still felt alien on her face, she decided that she needed to smile more; she didn't want to die with frown lines creasing her face.

"_'In helping others, we shall help ourselves'_" quoted Hermione, "by getting me out of here, you will prove yourself to the order, they probably still won't trust you enough to let you in on any plans, but they won't lock you up, or throw you back to the death eaters."

Draco sighed, "How in Merlin's name am I supposed to get you out of here?" He looked up at Hermione determination in his eyes, "I will though, I will get us both out of this hell"

"I know you will" said Hermione, completely trusting the boy who had tormented her for over 6 years of her life. "As for how, I have no clue, but I trust you'll be able to come up with a plan that will work." Draco just nodded, lost in his thoughts.

They sat there for a while occasionally speaking but mostly they were silent

"You know that I'm sorry right?" Draco said suddenly, Hermione turned to look at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"What for, exactly?" She asked him, he looked up to meet her gaze for a moment before looking away again as he answered.

"For everything" he paused and looked up at her, holding her gaze this time, "For how I treated you at Hogwarts, for not being able to see the truth sooner, for not trying to get you out of here sooner."

"The truth?" she asked quietly

"That blood means nothing, that what Lord Voldemort, and my father; and the rest of the Death Eaters are doing is completely and utterly wrong." They were both silent then, and he seemed awkward like he wanted to lighten the mood somehow, but these days there was nothing to lighten moods with.

A moment later Draco was alerted to the fact that someone was coming down the stairs. He jumped up and removed the charms he had put around the room. Turning to her with his wand out, panic in his eyes, he didn't know what to do, he couldn't be found down here with no reason to be here if he wasn't torturing her. Hermione got the idea and it wasn't too hard for her to look weak and in pain – she already was.

The Death Eater who had just come down the stairs holding her tray of food nodded at Draco, and he smirked in return as the man pulled out his wand ready to curse her, why did they enjoy causing her pain so much? Surely the novelty was wearing thin by now?

Before the man could even open his mouth to send a curse in her direction Draco drawled, "Ah, McGregor, just the man I have been meaning to talk to. Sorry to spoil your fun but might you take a moment to speak with me? I have been wondering about the security around here, the Granger girl has been here for a while now, it won't be long before Potter works out where she is and tries to rescue her, this could work in our favour of course, but security measure's need to be taken to ensure that things go our way" Draco ushered the annoyed man up the stairs, after taking the tray out of his hands and pushing it through the bars, "Would you mind reminding me what security charms there are protecting the Mudblood at the moment so that we can think about what needs to be changed?" His voice faded from the room and Hermione sat up to eat her stale meal, not minding the taste as she thought about the possibility of escaping with Draco.

* * *

After his conversation with Hermione, Draco suddenly worried that he had spoken too soon, what if they were caught? Did he really want to change sides? As soon as that thought came to him he scoffed to himself, of course he bloody wanted to change sides, there wasn't a single thing Lord Voldemort was doing that he agreed with, and even if he did believe that everyone but purebloods should be wiped out he certainly wouldn't be following the half-blood hypocrite Voldemort.

The fact was Draco was scared; he was scared of his father, he was scared of the Dark Lord, he was scared of the Death Eaters that the Lord would get to punish them if they were caught. But he wasn't just scared of that; he was scared that if they did manage an escape they wouldn't be able to find the order and even if they did he was scared that they would throw him in a prison like the one Hermione was in now. No, he knew that the 'light' side wouldn't treat their prisoners in such a way but he was still worried that they wouldn't accept him, that they wouldn't help him.

It was while he was thinking about this over the next few days that Draco realised that he had always been scared, even back in school when he used to bully potter it was all because he was bloody scared and he was hiding behind his father's power, and the power of the Dark Lord. He was a snivelling coward, but no matter what, he wouldn't let it get in the way of rescuing Hermione; and all of a sudden he realised that the escape had changed from using Hermione to get help from the order for himself; to making sure that Hermione wasn't put through anymore pain and getting her to safety.

The next day he started really thinking about his plan, instead of what could go wrong, he started thinking about how he could make sure that it went right. And the more he started thinking about it, the easy he realised it was going to be. Nobody checked on Granger unless they were - begrudgingly - taking her food; they wouldn't let the house elves near her in fear that she would somehow manage to set them free, and he knew she would have tried if given a chance, and would probably have succeeded; these elves did not have nearly as pleasant a working environment as the Hogwarts elves.

The only other time anyone went down there was to cause her pain for their own sick enjoyment; his fist clenched as he thought about it. He would have to plan the escape for a time when nobody was likely to go down there, that meant either after a whole of Death Eaters had been down and had their fun, he immediately crossed this option out in his mind, besides, she wouldn't be much use to him if she was passed out or couldn't walk.

He was well trusted by all the higher ups, so getting her out of her cell wasn't the difficult part, he had gotten all the security information from the death eater he had talked to on the very day they had come up with the idea of escaping. It was ridiculously lax security, anyone with a wand could open the door of the cell as long as they were outside the door; you couldn't use any magic at all inside the cell itself. It was leaving the grounds without anyone noticing her that was the problem– the Manor and the surrounding grounds had anti-apparition wards on them and it would be far too noticeable if he took off the wards even for a moment. He would have to make sure she wasn't able to be seen, and at a time where it wouldn't be odd for him to be leaving the grounds by himself.

By the time a week had passed he had come up with his plan; they would escape when he was next sent on an individual mission, in the meantime he had to find himself an invisibility cloak for Granger. Failing that he would have to wait until he was sent on a mission with just one other Death Eater, he could stun the man and Hermione could wear his robes and mask.

It was up to Granger what they were to do after they had gotten away from here.

"Malfoy" Barked a voice to his right, "What are you daydreaming about, boy?" He scowled at Mulciber, but the man just chuckled "We were about to go have a play with the mudblood" He indicated to the two men standing behind him before continuing, "thought you might like to come, you've been brooding about something all week." Mulciber grinned, "This might take your mind off whatever you're worrying your pretty little head over."

* * *

**A/N: **Shout out to WickedDiSaster who went through and Beta'd this story for me!!

Let me know what you think!! Thank you in advance for the reviews!

Casey :o)

xoxox


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Potterverse, nor do I make any money from writing this.

**A/N:** As usual, sorry about the wait!!

_Chapter Five_

Hermione heard the clattering sound of footsteps on the stairs, there was a group of people coming down, she realised with horror. She had been left relatively alone lately; she had hoped that she would be gone before she had to go through this again.

"We were thinking," Said the one at the front of the group as they reached the bottom of the stairs, his voice was familiar, _Mulciber,_ recalled Hermione; he had been down here on a number of different occasions she shivered at the memories. "That this time we would get a bit closer to the filthy whore, if you understand me – no one has had her yet. Seems an awful shame, all that flesh wasting away down here." Hermione went cold with fear as she realised what he was implying. "And what with the Dark Lord being too busy with getting the Potter boy once and for all, he hasn't been throwing parties at the moment..." He trailed off, not needing to explain further.

She looked up suddenly when she heard Draco's voice, it was cold and cruel, it shocked her; he had never talked to her like that before. "What a good idea, in fact, me and Granger here have had a score to settle ever since she had the nerve to punch me in 3rd year, why don't you boys leave me with her? I'll come find you when you can have your turn."

"Leave you with her??" one of the other men scoffed "Don't be greedy Malfoy, it's not like the Mudblood bitch needs privacy" he laughed, and Hermione saw a muscle in Draco's jaw twitch. He turned to face the death eater who had spoken, "That may be so, but I believe I have a higher rank in this house than you. No matter what I say, you do it? Got it?" He raised his eyebrows and smirk as the man's grin fell from his face.

"Whatever, Malfoy. I just don't see why the fuck we can't have some fun with her too, it wasn't even your idea."

Hermione couldn't believe her ears, the guy was actually whinging about the fact that he had to wait his turn to torture someone. She was disgusted.

"She may not need privacy, but I sure as hell do! You pricks can fuck off until I'm finished alright??" Hermione could tell that Draco was getting impatient.

Mulciber, who had been amused at the whole thing up until now, stepped forward "Now, now, Draco, we invited you to this little party, and if you want _privacy_ with the little bitch you're just going to have to come back another time."

There was a pause before Draco spat, "Fine! But no one fucks her but me! We clear?" He peered at each member of the group in turn. Hermione flinched at the thought of the men abusing her like that.

They all scowled back at him, "What the fuck, Malfoy? You don't hold a special place in your heart for the Mudblood, do you?" One of them jeered.

Another pause, "No, but if I know you men, then I know what she will be like after you're finished with her, and I want more than one go" He glared at them "and I like flesh to be tight around me."

Hermione shuddered at his words, but realised that the thought of Draco doing things to her wasn't disgusting to her at all. She was shocked when she recognised that she actually _wanted_ that with Draco. Obviously not here and now with the other Death Eaters watching, but she wished desperately that someplace, sometime, they could have that together. Another realisation came upon her at this thought; _she was in love with Draco Malfoy_! No, that was impossible, the only reason she could think of for feeling like that was the fact that he was planning on saving her. '_Gratitude, not love'_ she told herself, but before she could think on it further she was brought out of her thoughts when she was hit with the cruciatus curse. She screamed at the shock of it and her body arched upwards from the ground, her muscles twitching as her nerves felt like they were being set on fire.

She was released from the curse and she heard the door to her cell clang open, she realised that she hadn't heard the end of their argument over what was to be done with her. She looked to see who was coming into her cell but was hit with another 'crucio' and her body went into convolutions from the pain, she was struggling just to pull air into her lungs.

The curse was lifted and her eyes fluttered open momentarily - just long enough to see the figure of a tall man clad in dark robes standing over her - before she passed out completely, her body and mind too tired and abused to stay conscious.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know if you did!! (or even if you didn't)

Casey :o)

xoxox


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six_

Draco was anxious as he descended the stairs with the group of men, and became even more so when Mulciber spoke up, "We were thinking," He said, "That this time we would get a bit closer to the filthy whore, if you understand me – no one has had her yet. Seems an awful shame, all that flesh wasting away down here. And what with the Dark Lord being too busy with getting the Potter boy once and for all, he hasn't been throwing parties at the moment..." He trailed off, and Draco clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He couldn't let them suspect anything, he didn't want his and Hermione's escape plans to be ruined because he acted rashly.

He mentally calmed himself and played along, "What a good idea, in fact, me and Granger here have had a score to settle ever since she had the nerve to punch me in 3rd year" He decided to test his luck, and see if he could get them out of here, "why don't you boys leave me with her? I'll come find you when you can have your turn." If they left, he might possibly be able to put a dissolutionment charm on Hermione and get her out here today. The idea that he could be free of the oppressive manor and all its occupants in a matter of hours if things went his way lifted his spirits.

"Leave you with her??" One of the men, who Draco didn't know, scoffed. Unfortunately it seemed it wasn't going to be that easy to get them out of here, and he didn't like his chances of taking them all out singlehandedly, even with the element of surprise, it would be over as soon as one of them yelled out, alerting anyone who might be close enough to hear that something was amiss. "Don't be greedy Malfoy, it's not like the Mudblood bitch needs privacy" the man continued.

Draco's jaw twitched and he fought to keep his anger in check, "That may be so" he said, his voice cold, "but I believe I have a higher rank in this house than you. No matter what I say, you do it? Got it?" He smirked as the man began to scowl.

"Whatever, Malfoy." He replied, then complained in a pitifully whiney voice "I just don't see why the fuck we can't have some fun with her too, it wasn't even your idea."

Draco was getting even more nervous and impatient, and this guy was getting on his nerves, "She may not need privacy, but I sure as hell do! You pricks can fuck off until I'm finished alright?"

Apparently Mulciber didn't like this idea, because he stepped forward a sneer plastered on his face, "Now, now, Draco, we invited you to this little party, and if you want _privacy_ with the little bitch you're just going to have to come back another time."

Draco was panicking, he couldn't let them touch Hermione, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to stun them all in order to get away, he was getting desperate. "Fine!" He spat at the men, "But no one fucks her but me! We clear?" He tried to make his voice sound authoritative despite his nervousness. He hated that Hermione was hearing him say these things. It was obvious that the men didn't like what he was saying, as they were all scowling at him.

"What the fuck, Malfoy? You hold a special place in your heart for the mudblood do you?" jeered Ludovic, who was a good friend of Mulciber's.

How did he get them to be fine with letting him be the only one to touch her, without thinking anything of it? "No, but if I know you men, then I know what she will be like after you're finished with her, and I want more than one go" He glared at them, "and I like flesh to be tight around me." They only seemed to understand vulgar language, and even though he grown up around people using language like that, it still repulsed his to talk like that, especially about a woman who was currently in the room.

Before they could reply he added in a stern voice "I could make it so that the girl is for my own personal use, and ensure that none of you came down here at all, not for any reason. So think carefully before you reply." While this was completely untrue, he hoped that they were all naive enough to think that his father actually gave him everything he wanted. It turned out to be his lucky day because they all scowled at him in resentment.

The man who Draco didn't know turned to face Hermione "_Crucio_" He hissed, taking out his disappointment on her. Draco held back a shudder as he watched her scream and twitch in pain. He would have closed his eyes, but he noticed that Mulciber was watching him, '_Crap_' Thought Malfoy, '_He knows something's not right'_. Draco forced a smirk onto his face as Hermione continue to writhe on the cold stone floor. Hermione was released from the curse and Draco stiffened as Mulciber swung the cell door open and gestured for him to go inside "Well Malfoy, if you are so desperate to have her yourself..." He raised an eyebrow, "The least you can do after refusing us a taste of her dirty flesh is allow us to witness her torment." He sneered at Malfoy.

Draco masked his feelings and plastered a grin on his face, he could only hope that it didn't look too strained, "It would be my pleasure" He drawled to the Death Eaters and he stepped into the cell just as Ludovic cast another 'crucio' in Grangers Direction. He heard the men laugh and cheer as Granger's body writhed and twisted. The curse was ended when Draco was standing directly over Hermione. She panted for breath for a moment, her eyelids fluttering, before her body went limp... and she was unconscious.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about leaving it in that same place!!

I think you will be pleased to know that I have the next chapter written, it just needs to be edited a bit.

Please leave a **Review **and let me know what you think so far.

Love Casey

xoxoxo


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, except a copy of the books, all characters etc belong to JKR.

**A/N: **Can you believe it? Another chapter already! .... it seems that exams are good for something at least. (I really should start studying though)

* * *

_Chapter Seven_

Draco mentally breathed a sigh of relief, he was sure that they would want her to know exactly what was happening to her when it happened, where would the fun be if she was oblivious to the molestation?

"You idiot, Ludovic. She's out cold." Draco shoved her body with his foot for effect, and she moaned lightly despite being out of it. Draco prayed that she wouldn't come around until they were all gone.

"She won't be any good like this, I want her to look into my eyes and fight back as I fuck her, to know that it's me who owns her." He looked disgustedly at the men, not a hard look to perfect right at the moment, and added, "Surely even you wouldn't want her like this?"

He looked at their faces one by one, and saw that if they had the chance they would indeed take her in this state, "For fucks sake, she's a filthy Mudblood, what's the point if you don't teach her a lesson in the process?"

Draco stepped forward to leave the cell when Mulciber stopped him, "Come on, Malfoy" he said persuasively "At least give us a little peak at what we're missing out on, bare a little flesh."

There was no reason that he could think of that would get him out of it without them becoming even more suspicious of him. So he gritted his teeth and without replying to Mulciber he stepped back towards Granger.

Leaning forward he grasped her stained and filthy shirt either side of the buttons and ripped it open down the middle the already loose buttons popping off and bouncing around the damn cell. He couldn't look at her, so he looked back up at the Death Eaters on the other side of the bars.

He could tell that they weren't satisfied with merely seeing her with her shirt open, so leant down further and used his teeth help him rip the middle of her bra open, he spat on the floor to try and get the rank taste of sweat and grime out of his mouth.

He looked back at the men and tried to suppress a shudder as he smirked at them cupping her small emaciated breasts in his hands before standing up and allowing them to see her bared before them all.

"Like what you see?" he sneered at them, standing back up and walking out of the cell. "To bad if you do." He stated. "Because none of you will touch her until I grow bored, or decide to let you in on a little fun." He smirked, "But don't get your hopes up, because I don't like to share."

And with that Draco gestured for them to precede him up the stairs as closed the door to her cell behind him. Giving her one last glance, feeling terrible for leaving her exposed in such a way. He needed to get her out of here... and soon, before he slipped up and did something unwise and reckless, like to try and tell people to leave Granger the hell alone.

He had to get her out of here tonight, Draco realised. There was no way he could stand any more time in this cursed place. He was leaving, and he was never coming back.

* * *

Hermione could hear the Death Eaters reaching the top of the stairs as she came around, and she shivered in the dark cell. Looking down at herself she gasped and pulled her shirt closed, struggling to do up the two buttons that remained attached to the shirt with her stiff, shaking fingers.

She wondered how long she had been passed out for, and what they had done to her. She was aching all over but was quite certain that they hadn't raped her. She didn't think that they would have been so kind as to put her pants back on for her.

With a pang she remembered the things that Draco had been saying to the other men. Did he mean the things he was saying? She couldn't help but let the doubt trickle in, he had been horrible to her all through school, could he really have changed as much as she had thought he had? What about all the times he had come down and sat with her, talked to her, brought her better food?

But then, what would he gain out of befriending her, if he wasn't sincere? She assured herself that he was being honest with her, and that he was just playing the part of Death Eater earlier so as not to raise suspicions.

She would still have to be wary around him from now on; she had been too quick to trust him she realised. What if he was trying to 'escape' with her, only to discover the location of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters? In her heart she didn't believe that, but despite her own feelings on the matter, and her own feelings about the man in question, she couldn't be so trusting, of anyone, from now onwards.

* * *

**A/N:**

Please leave a **Review **and let me know what you think so far, I love getting feedback, and the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to write (No pressure or anything though).

Love Casey

xoxoxo


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, or anything to do with it, I don't make any money from writing this.

* * *

_Chapter Eight_

As soon as he was sure that there was no one around, Draco made his way back down to the dungeon, he stopped at the bottom of the stairs when he heard Granger crying. In all the time she had been here, she had never cried; she had tears of pain in her eyes, she had screamed, but never once had she wept.

He stood there for a moment not knowing what to do, he cleared his throat, and she turned around to face him, her cheeks tear streaked and her eyes deep wells of pain. And then he did something he had never done; it was as if entering her cell early that day had broken the barrier between them because without thinking about it, he walked over to the cell, opened the door and went to her.

Hermione stiffened as he sat and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, he started to think that he had done the wrong thing, and after a minute he was about to take his arms away but then she relaxed into him, her tears still falling silently down her face.

He couldn't stay there for long, it was too risky, if anyone came and found them like that, he would be locked in here with her too. No, he realised, he would be killed; they had no use for a Death Eater turned traitor, not even Lucius Malfoy's son. The only reason Granger was still alive was because they were hoping to use her to lure Harry out.

He slowly pulled his arms from around her and stood to leave, before he turned away and walked back out of the cell and up the stairs, he whispered one word to her, "_Tonight_".

For the remainder of the afternoon Draco fretted over how the escape would go, he was fairly certain that it would go off without a hitch, but he didn't have a clue what he would do if they were caught.

He got everything that they might need, including a strengthening potion for Hermione; they would never make it if she couldn't walk without help. He shrunk a small tent and a few other essentials and put them into the pocket of his robes that wasn't holding his wand.

He suddenly wondered where Hermione's wand was, and whether he could get it without anyone realising. _'The drawing room'_ he remembered, _'Granger's wand is in the desk drawer'_. He couldn't think of any reason why anyone would be looking in the drawer in the near future, so he figured that it would be safe enough to get it; and it would be a huge advantage for them both to have wands.

He nodded at the few people he passed on the way to the drawing room, as he reached the door to the room he made sure that there was nobody around as he entered.

The wand was right where he expected it to be, sitting on top of a pile of papers, he was relieved that things were working out well so far, now he only needed to wait until the manor was quiet so they could leave undetected.

* * *

Hermione also spent the afternoon worrying about the coming night; however, unlike Draco, she was more worried about what they would do after they managed to escape the manor.

Would the headquarters of the Order still be at Grimmauld Place? Or had they moved locations? She wasn't even sure for how long she had been held prisoner, were they out there looking for her? Even if she found them, how many things would have changed since she was taken?

Harry was obviously still alive or she would most likely be dead already; but any number of the other members could have been killed or captured since she had been taken hostage.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard feet hurrying down the staircase towards her. She stiffened as she waited for them to appear, relaxing when she saw that it was Draco. Then she realised that they really were about to get out of here; it was actually happening, her heart rate sped with anticipation of being free.

The bars rattled as Draco pulled the door of the cell open, and motioned for her to come out, he kept his eyes turned to the stairs, making sure no one had followed him down. Hermione stood carefully on shaky legs and stumbled her way to the door, she bit her lip; how would they make it out if she couldn't even walk?

Just before she reached him she stumbled on the uneven floor, letting out a noise of surprise as she fell. Draco whipped his head around when he heard her gasp and instinctively stepped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.

Hermione felt her cheeks heat with the humiliation of it, but Draco, to his credit, just settled her on her feet and ushered her out of the cell, acting like nothing had happened.

"Here" He said, holding out a vial of potion "It's a strengthening potion" He explained when he saw her looking at it warily.

Hermione took the potion from him and sniffed the contents cautiously, she then took a small sip, tasting it before swallowing all of it; satisfied that it was indeed a strengthening potion.

"Thank you" She said handing him back the vial, she felt the potion start to spread through her muscles and she found that she was no longer shaking just from the effort of standing. She was relieved that she wouldn't ruin their escape because of how weak she had become.

Hermione cleared her throat, trying not to seem nervous, '_this is no harder than some of the missions you have been on before_' she scolded herself, ignoring the fact that she had always been in excellent shape on all her missions. She had also always had a well thought out, foolproof plan, '_well, almost foolproof_'' she thought as she recalled her capture.

"Right" She said seriously, looking Draco in the eye, "How are we going to do this?"

* * *

Draco hurried down the stairs to Granger's cell; he pulled his wand out as he reached the bottom and kept his eye on the stairs as he moved towards the cell door. He swung the door open and indicated for Hermione to come out.

He needed to get a grip on himself, he was too nervous; he reminded himself that no one was expecting anything, and so the likelihood of anything going wrong was slim. He glanced back at Hermione when he heard her gasp and quickly caught her.

He was extremely glad that he had brought her a strengthening potion, as he wasn't sure they would be able to make it without it. When he had settled her on her feet again he pulled out the vial.

"Here" he said as he was handing her the potion, "It's a strengthening potion" he explained. He watched as she cautiously tested it, before swallowing it all. She grew visibly stronger before his eyes, the shaking in her limbs stopped and she drew herself up, straightening her posture.

"Thank you" She said, the potion clearly hadn't strengthened her nerves as her voice was shaking.

She cleared her throat, "right" she said, looking him in the eye, "How are we going to do this?"

Draco pulled her wand from his pocket and handed it to her. Her mouth dropped open slightly and suddenly she had flung herself on him.

"Goddess, thank you, so much! I thought I would have to get a new one for sure" She gushed, her hand clamped tightly around the wand.

"Well, we have a much better chance of getting out of here if both of us have wands, I'm glad it hadn't been moved since you were brought in, or I wouldn't have known where to look for it." Draco replied.

The first thing she did after releasing her hold on him was cast a '_Scurgify_' over herself, before she repaired her bra and shirt. Draco looked away, ashamed at having exposed her so indecently to the other men.

"I'm going to Disillusion you" He explained to her, "and then you will follow me, if you see anyone, stop moving so that they won't see anything suspicious."

Draco knew that he wasn't good enough at Disillusionment Charms to render her completely invisible, but he thought that he was good enough that she would be at least camouflaged enough to avoid being seen.

He cast the charm over her and he saw her shiver at the feeling of cold liquid trickling over her as she _almost_ disappeared from view. Draco grimaced at his effort, he could still see clearly see her outline, even when she was standing completely still, despite the fact that she was the same colour as the room behind her.

Draco cleared his throat, "You, ah, you wouldn't happen to be proficient at Disillusionment Charms would you?" He asked her embarrassed at his attempt at the charm and at having to ask her to do it for him.

Hermione grinned and laughed at him, removing the charm from herself, "It's like this," she said before showing him how to correctly cast the charm with the desired results. Draco watched as she disappeared from view completely. The only time he could see her was when she was moving, and even then it was just a faint glimmer, almost like hot air radiating of heated ground, he doubted anyone would notice unless they were specifically looking.

"Ok, just follow me. You'll have to stop if we see anyone, just in case" he paused before adding, "and if someone realises what is happening; run, don't wait for me. Just get yourself off the grounds and disapparate."

Draco didn't like the feeling he got when he thought of her disapparating without him, and not just because he would have to go on the run without protection from the order; but because he didn't like the thought of being away from her; he shook the thought away quickly, before he could think too much about it.

"Alright, we better get moving, follow me, and don't make a sound." Draco said quietly and turned to walk up the stairs.

* * *

**A/N:** Well there you go, a bit longer than the last few chapters!!

Please leave a review!!... and wish me luck for my exams!! **_*stresses*_** You owe it too me since I have been writing fanfic instead of studying haha!! .. ok, so maybe that's my own fault, but I hope you are grateful!! :o) hehe

Casey  
xoxox


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any money from writing this!!

**A/N:** Sorry about the long wait guys!! I decided had to get this chapter out for the release of HP6, so it is currently un-beta'd, I'm sorry for the mistakes!!

_Chapter Nine_

Hermione followed Draco up the stairs, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She gripped her wand in her right hand and couldn't quite get over the thrill of having it back again; it was like a part of her that had been torn away had been replaced, as good as new.

She suddenly felt as though the sound of her breath and her footsteps on the hard stone were excruciatingly loud in the silent stairwell.

The two of them crept silently though the rooms and hallways of the Manor, trying to be as silent as possible.

Draco was trying to act as normal as possible, so that no-one who saw him would pay any attention to him.

Although, even Hermione thought he looked as though he was up to something, she just hoped no-one would notice him creeping around.

Suddenly his posture changed, and he suddenly looked as though he was merely striding through Manor as, she guessed, he normally did. His back straightened and he plastered his usual sneer across his face.

A black clad Death Eater strode into the room causing Hermione to stop suddenly, holding her breath. She could have sworn that her heart sounded like a beating drum in her chest.

Draco merely nodded at the man, continuing on through the doorway without slowing down. Hermione had to hurry after him as soon as the Death Eater was behind her and out of the room; she entered the next hallway in time to see Draco disappear through another door.

'_How big is this place?_' she wondered as she ran after him, becoming breathless despite the strengthening potion he had given her.

"Shhh..." Draco hissed under his breath, looking over his shoulder to where he could hear her ragged breath. Hermione tried her hardest to slow and quiet her breathing; Draco stood browsing the paintings, knowing that she needed time to recover.

Once she had regained her breath she whispered at him that she was ok now, and he turned and continued out into an adjoining room.

Suddenly Hermione could hear loud voices coming from behind them, she didn't know whether she should stop, in case they came into the room and saw the shimmer of air as she moved, or to take her chances and continue to hurry through the room.

She decided to keep moving when Draco sped up at the sound of the men behind them; she would never get out of the maze of corridors and rooms that made up the Manor if she lost track of Draco. He probably wouldn't even know she was missing until he got off the grounds and told her to take off the disillusionment charm.

As she and Draco moved into yet another hallway she heard the door to the room they had just been in burst open. She heard the last half of what was being said.

".. well, go and check" Snarled an all too familiar voice, before another man yelled out in pain as he was hit with what was probably Lucius' cane.

Before she and Draco were halfway down the hall the door burst open and Lucius strode out, Hermione stood as still as she could, her heart wild with panic.

"Draco!" Lucius called from behind them, causing Draco to freeze in place as Hermione had done.

She saw his eyes widen in panic before he, yet again, slid a mask over his features and slowly pivoted on the spot to face his father.

Hermione wondered how much of what she had known about Draco from school had all been a facade.

"Yes, father?" he drawled casually, he was a very good actor, Hermione thought, but then, she didn't know him very well, his father and other people who he spent more time with him might be able to hear the tension in his voice that she couldn't.

"Have you, by chance, seen the Mudblood's wand? It appears to be missing." The older man sneered at his only son.

Draco raised his eyebrows, looking bemused, "Why on earth would I have seen Her-" - for a split second his eyes betrayed a hint of panic as he stopped himself from calling her 'Hermione' in front of his father, he continued smoothly - "-wand?"

"I don't know, Draco." Lucius took a few steps forward as he spoke, "but I've been told that you have been spending quite a bit of time with the scum." He cocked an eyebrow at his son questioningly.

"Yes, father... I like to... play with her." He paused, "She has a very nice scream" He grinned at his father.

"Oh" said Lucius tilting his head to the side, "then why hasn't anyone else heard these, _nice screams,_ while you've been down there?" Lucius continued to move forwards, causing Hermione to step slowly backwards to avoid being run into.

Draco thought quickly then explained with nonchalance "Silencing charms."

Lucius spun around suddenly as the door burst open, a panting Death Eater leaning against the door frame trying to talk while still catching his breath.

"Gone...she's, gone." He paused standing up straighter as he got his breath back "The Mudblood's not in her cell."

Lucius looked furious, his teeth clenched before whirling back to face Draco, who had been slowly stepping backwards while no-one's attention was on him.

"Well?" he forced the word through his teeth, "What do you know of this, _my son._" He said the last words sarcastically. "Where are you going anyway? Hmm, boy?" He asked "Not planning on missing the meeting that's in half an hour?" Lucius was sneering at his son.

Draco was speechless, it was the first time Hermione had seen him completely crack under pressure.

"N-no, of course not." He stuttered, Hermione could see a light sheen of sweat forming across his brow. He was probably thinking about what that 'meeting' would involve if they were caught.

Lucius's face darkened, "You always did have a bit of an obsession with the dirty chit, didn't you? Never shut about her, while you were at Hogwarts, it was always 'Granger this', or 'Granger that'." He slowly walked further forwards, causing both Draco and Hermione to back up, she ended up with her back close enough to Draco that she could feel the heat emanating from his skin.

"And recently," continued Lucius, "you haven't been participating at the Lord's feasts." He looked at his son with distaste, "and then I hear that you wouldn't let Mulciber and the other lads have their fun with girl." Lucius raised his wand Draco, just as Draco grabbed Hermione and spun around, pushing her towards the huge double doors at the end of the hall.

"Run!" he yelled at her "GO!" he spun back round to face his father just as Lucius sent a curse at him that hit him directly in the chest.

Hermione didn't stop, even as she heard him scream in pain and she remembered the burning feeling of being burnt alive and simultaneously frozen to death that the cruciatus curse inflicted.

She heard Lucius yell at the men, who had gathered at the end of the hall watching the spectacle between Lucius and his son, to find and recapture her.

As she pushed the doors open, and smelt fresh air for the first time in weeks, she had to dodge several spells as they were thrown her way.

"I hate you" She heard Draco spit at his father as he got back to his feet to face his father, right before being knocked to the ground again as another wave of excruciating pain was sent his way.

Hermione shot three stunning spells over her should and heard a grunt as one of the men on her tail fell to the ground.

She was halfway through the huge garden moving towards the edge of the anti-apparition wards, dodging curses as she ran and firing off hexes over her shoulder when she realised what she was doing.

What if Draco didn't manage to get away from his father? Could she just leave him there to endure whatever they would put him through? After everything he had done for her?

"No" she whispered out loud, she couldn't do that to him. She stopped and spun around sending hexes flying and managed to stun two of her pursuers before sprinting back in the direction of the Manor, the remaining two Death Eaters stopped, looking confusedly as her footprints – which they had been following – suddenly reversed directions.

She stunned them as she ran passed and was thankful that the doors to the Manor were still open when she got to them, breathing hard.

Just as she entered the hall, she was struck from behind with a body bind curse, and she let out a surprised scream as she fell to the ground, immobile.

In the position she was in she could see that Lucius had just managed to bind his son with ropes from his wand and he looked up, glowering as he heard her startled cry as she fell.

He grinned, and started towards where she was, his eyes scanning for a clue as to her exact location.

Hermione concentrated as hard as she could and managed to unlock her limbs using non-verbal magic. She started to get slowly to her feet, not wanting to make a single sound, when the death eater who had sent the hex at her came running through the door and tripped over her kneeling form, subsequently giving away her position.

She quickly brought her wand up and stunned the man; she then got to her feet and unbound Draco with a flick of her wand, before turning towards Lucius, her wand pointing directly at him.

Draco had immediately crawled towards his discarded wand when he was free from the bindings, and he and Hermione both shot stunning hexes towards his father at exactly the same moment, both the spells hitting him in the chest.

Lucius's eyes rolled up into his head as he was knocked completely unconscious by the power of the two well placed hexes and he fell forward, a trickle of blood leaking from his nose.

Draco and Hermione both kept their wands out, not trusting that more Death Eaters wouldn't come.

Hermione quietly walked up to Draco just as he whispered to her. "Where are you?" He asked, his eyes scanning right through her.

"Right here" she whispered back, before pressing her mouth firmly and passionately against his. She pulled away almost immediately grabbing his hand, her wand already transferred into her left.

She tugged him down the hall towards the exit, they had to get out of there before the Death Eaters came around; they were both exhausted and weak, Hermione didn't know how well they would hold up in another fight.

They ran and stumbled their way through the beautiful gardens and were at the edge of the wards when Draco was suddenly hit in the centre of his back with a spell, he slumped forwards, falling face first into the grass, his hand jerking out of Hermione's

Hermione's heart jumped into her throat and she spun around and shot a hex directly at Draco's attacker, she saw it hit him in the chest as she flung herself onto the limp form of Draco and apparated away from the place where so many of their nightmares had taken place.

* * *

**A/N:**

So who else went to the first session?

If you have seen the movie, let me know what you thought of it, which bits you think they should have kept in which bits they didn't need, etc etc.

and of course.. let me know what you think of this chapter! realistic escape? too easy? I love to get feedback!

Casey

xoxox


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey Guys, sorry for the long wait! I had my last exam today!! WOOHOO!!! ... summer holidays now!! I was hoping to get another chapter up in the next week.. unfortunately my computer is completely full to the brim, can't even go into hibernate mode without crashing because there is so little space left on the drive... so my computer has to go in to get a new HD and have a bit of a service.. I hope it won't take long... but I have no idea! :( **

**Anyway**, **On with the story:**

_Chapter 10_

They landed sprawled together in a wet grassy field, but before Hermione could take in her surroundings, she shoved Draco's wand into her pocket so it wouldn't drop from his loose grip and apparated them away again this time reappearing in a dark back alley that smelled as though it was home to a few stray cats, again she apparated to a new location, she did this several more times, the scenery flashing in front of her eyes.

It was only when Hermione finally decided that they were safe from being tracked by the remaining Death Eaters that she apparated them into a thick dense forest. Before she could even think about worrying about Draco, Hermione ensured that the area was safe by casting the '_Cave Inimicum_' charm as well as several concealment charms to ensure that they wouldn't be caught.

Once that was done she dropped to her knees by Draco's side and immediately started to panic at the sight of him; his head was tilted back, his eyes wide open and unseeing.

"Draco?" She shook him, her voice wavering "Draco!" She said louder this time, his head flopped to the side and she started hyperventilating.

Mentally taking a step back from the situation, Hermione closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before reaching out a shaky hand to his neck to check for a pulse, she held back a sob as she felt it beat steadily beneath her fingers. She started to panic again when she realised that while his heart was beating, he wasn't breathing. "_Anapneo_" she said quickly with a wave of her wand in the direction of Malfoy's throat to clear his airways, but when she checked again, she found that he still wasn't breathing.

Again she checked his pulse, to make sure he was still alive, and was relieved that it was still just as strong as before, which was odd, she thought, since he most likely hadn't been breathing since the spell hit him and she had apparated them away from Malfoy Manor.

Now that she knew he was at least alive, Hermione's head was clear enough that she could start figuring out what was wrong with him, first she tried rousing him with "_Renervate_", despite knowing that he wasn't stunned, and when that didn't work she wondered if there was a particular counter curse she needed to perform, or if the spell would wear off on its own. She wracked her brain, trying to think of spells and hexes that would result in Draco's current symptoms.

Hermione had never seen the exact curse that he had been hit with before, it seemed to Hermione that the spell was mimicking the effects of the Draught of Living Death. She wondered if giving him the Wiggenweld Potion, which reversed the effects of the Draught of Living Death, would bring Draco out of his deep slumber; she supposed not however, since he hadn't actually been given a potion, he had been hit with a spell. She let out a growl of frustration; Hermione Granger did not know what to do.

* * *

By the time Hermione woke up the next morning the Disillusionment Charm had worn off. She kept her eyes closed and snuggled up closer against Draco's chest before she suddenly stopped breathing in a moment of panic; she thought that his heartbeat had stopped, but after a moment of listening she could hear it beneath her ear. She let out a sigh of relief, shivering, she pulled her robes closer around herself, they were damp with morning dew and it was a moment before she remembered that she had her wand and could dry herself off.

Once she was feeling warmer she turned back to Draco and sighed in frustration, then suddenly her eyes widened, '_Of Course'_ she thought, '_Why didn't I think of that before?'_ she had had this spell cast on herself before; in fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament Professor Dumbledore had placed Ron, Cho Chang, Fleur Delacour's younger sister Gabrielle and herself into a deep slumber in order to tie them at the bottom of the lake for the champions to retrieve.

Unfortunately, despite knowing what spell Draco was suffering from, Hermione still had no clue how to get him out of it. All had known about the spell in fourth year was that she would be quite safe and that she would wake up as soon as she reached the surface of the lake, it was all such a rush that she hadn't bothered to find out any more than that.

Why wouldn't he just wake up already? "Oh for God's sake, Draco! Wake Up!" She yelled as she shook his shoulders, she huffed and pulled out her wand "Wake Up" she shouted again, waving her wand at Draco. "_Ksypno_" she tried the Greek for 'awaken' and when that didn't work she tried the Latin; "_suscitatio_". Hermione felt ready to sob, why hadn't she researched the spell back in fourth year?

"_Finite Incantatum_" She tried wearily, without any real hope that it would work, and almost screamed in surprise as Draco's eyes flew open and he took a deep gasping breath. Before she had a moment to kick herself for not trying such a simple charm earlier, before she even had a moment to feel relieved that he was finally awake; Draco had grabbed the wand from her hand flipped them over so that he was pinning her down with her own wand pressed to her throat.

* * *

When Draco regained consciousness with someone leaning over him with their wand trained on him his instinct and training kicked in and before he knew it he had Hermione Granger pinned to the ground with her wand in his hand. He froze, not his head still slightly fuzzy as he looked down into her wide shocked eyes.

"Shit" he cursed and rolled off her, he coughed to clear his hoarse throat, "sorry about that" he said, handing her back her wand. He searched his pockets and the ground for his own wand and groaned when he couldn't find it; he obviously dropped it when the hex hit him. "What happened?" He asked, and before he could twist back around to face her he was knocked back to the ground with the force of Hermione's relieved hug.

"I was starting to think you would sleep forever!" Hermione exclaimed to the startled Draco.

"How long was I out?" He asked as she sat back and crossed her legs, sitting on the ground opposite him. She made it sound as though he had been asleep for weeks.

"Just one night" she told him, "but I had no idea what they had hit you with until this morning, and even when I figured it out I didn't know how to get you out of it." She went on to explain what spell she thought he had been hit with and what she had done to get them away from the Manor.

"You're sure we're safe here?" He asked her eyeing the surrounding trees as though expecting Death Eaters to suddenly jump out and attack them.

Hermione huffed in response, and glared at him, not used to people doubting her abilities. "Yes. There's no way they could get close to my wards without us being alerted in time to get away. That's if they could track us here to begin with, which is doubtful."

Draco put his hands up in surrender, "Ok, I believe you, no need to get shirty" he grinned at her.

Hermione stood up facing away from him and stretched out her stiff body, "I think we should stay here for a few nights, before we head to the Order headquarters; we need to work out how to convince them that you didn't rescue me just to spy on the order." She looked over her shoulder to find him standing right behind her, she tilted her head up and looked him in the eye; "Thank you, by the way, for rescuing me." Her voice was soft.

"I should be the one thanking you" He told her awkwardly, his eyes shifting away, "You didn't have to come back for me." He sighed, "You _shouldn't_ have come back for me; but, I can't help but be glad you did" he averted his eyes again.

Hermione turned so that her body was facing his, "Of course I came back for you, I'm so sorry I even thought about leaving without you." She took a deep breath, "I assumed that you would get away from your father and come after me, but when I realised that you might not I turned back immediately; there was no way I was going to leave you there, especially since you're the one who got me out in the first place."

"Well, whatever your reasons were" He replied, "Thank you, most of the people I've associated with during my life wouldn't have had any second thoughts about saving their own skins and leaving me at the mercy of the Dark Lord." He paused, "Hell, they'd probably think it was funny."

Hermione was about to reply when they both felt the fine drops of water on their skin signifying the start of a downpour. "We need to find shelter somewhere," Hermione told him and she turned to start looking for some place they could keep themselves out of the rain but Draco caught her arm and pulled her back, reaching into his pocket for the shrunken tent with his other hand.

"I came prepared." He showed her tent in his hand.

"Never took you to be the boy scout type, Malfoy" Hermione joked, earning herself a confused look from Malfoy, she sighed, "Never mind; it's a muggle thing".

Draco just rolled his eyes and turned around to find a good spot to enlarge and pitch the tent. It was then that he remembered that he was wandless, he groaned.

"You're going to have to do the tent pitching, Granger." He told her, "I must have dropped my wand when I was hit with the spell back at the Manor."

"Oh" Hermione exclaimed, "I completely forgot!" She pulled Draco's wand from her pocket and handing it over to him, "You weren't in much of a state to keep a good grip on it, so I put it in my pocket for safe keeping." The look of relief on Draco's face was almost comical.

"Granger, I could kiss you right now." He said with a grin, before turning to set the tent up in the clearing, completely missing the blush that stained the Gryffindor's cheeks at his words.

* * *

**Thank you to bcain17 who was kind enough to beta this chapter!**

**Hope you liked it! :) Let me know!**

**I have a poll up on my profile, I'm thinking about changing my penname... well, I want to change it too a penname! .. so I'd love it if you could take a second to vote on your preference!! :)  
**

**If any of you are German, my other fic, My Best Enemy's Baby, is being translated! You can read it in German here: **www (.) myfanfiction (.) de/texte/harry-potter/my-best-enemy-s-baby (.) 98814 (.) rezensionen (.) html?sid=cae3n56768vp86igvfs6kf3f24

(obviously remove the brackets and the spaces from around the full stops.)

**Thank you for reading!**

**Lots of Love,**

**Casey!!**

**xoxoxo  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Hey Guys!! I'm so sorry for the long wait!! You can thank my beta WickedDiSaster for coming back from her trip and giving me the push I needed to get back to writing again! :) .... enjoy!

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_Chapter 11_

Hermione followed Draco into the tent and gasped at the size of the interior, no matter how long she had been in the wizarding world, there were some things she never got used to.

While on the outside the tent looked like an old fashioned muggle A-frame, the inside was as big as an average house and just as lavishly decorated as Malfoy Manor.

They had stepped into a long, lushly carpeted, hallway; there were two doors on each side of the hall and one at the end of the hall opposite the entrance.

"The bathroom is at the end of the hall" said Draco, "I imagine that after so long in that dungeon you'll be wanting a bath."

Hermione could only nod as he led her towards the room at the end of the hall. Being somewhere so nice and clean made her realise just how disgustingly dirty she felt.

The strengthening potions must have been wearing off, or at least the adrenaline that had been pumping through her system was finally subsiding as her legs were feeling shaky, she was relieved when she got to the bathroom without tripping over her feet.

The bathroom was almost as big as the prefects' bathroom had been at Hogwarts; there was a large sunken bath in the centre of the room, piles of fluffy towels on shelves on the far wall, and a door on each of the side walls.

"The doors both lead to the toilets, which are each also connected to a bedroom." Explained Draco, who had leaned down and started to turn on several taps, one of the taps just seemed to be pouring hot water in the bath, another was gushing sweetly scented and lavender tinged water and the third tap was pouring bubbles into the large tub.

In no time at all the bath was full, Draco had handed her a towel, instructed her to dip her wand into the water to adjust the temperature and had left the room.

Hermione slowly stripped off her ragged and dirty clothes and slipped into the soft, perfectly heated water.

She lay there for about 15 minutes before she realised that she had tears slowly running down her face. She wasn't used to feeling defenceless and during her time in the dungeon she hadn't once felt like she had any control, she hated that she had been weak and she hated that she had been caught in the first place.

Her mind wandered back to the night that she was caught, the Order had been informed of a Death Eater raid that was to happen in a small muggle village; but when she, Ron and four other order members had arrived to attempt to stop them they had been surrounded.

The others had fought the Death Eaters while Hermione worked to lift the Anti-Apparition wards that had been put in place as soon as they arrived, not an easy task, especially while under attack; but she had succeeded and yelled for them to Disapparate.

Right before she could follow her own advice a stunning spell had hit her, and that was that, she fought back for a minute as the stunner wore off but she was entirely outnumbered and before she knew it she was wandless and tied up with magical ropes being transported to the seemingly abandoned building that had held her prisoner for the first time.

Hermione shook off the memories, it would do her no good to berate herself for not being a second quicker, she knew that if it happened again she would probably still be that second too slow, as she had had to make sure that everyone else managed to get away first; it was in her nature, no matter how stupid and life threatening, she would always put others before herself.

She was startled out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the bathroom door; "I'm leaving some clean clothes outside the door, you will have to magically resize them for yourself though; they were Pansy's from about eight years ago and I'm afraid they're all I could find." Called Draco through the door.

Hermione mumbled something in response before she swatted at her tear streaked cheeks and started actually washing herself with the washcloth and soap that were sitting on the edge of the bath.

When her skin was a bright pink from being washed so thoroughly, she stepped out of the water and wrapped herself in the thick towel before opening the door a crack to grab the clothes that had been left outside.

The robes were indeed far too small, but they were rather plain and elegant, not the childlike clothing she had expected to find. She would have felt better in muggle clothing, but the robes were far better than putting on her own soiled clothing.

After untangling and drying her unruly hair with her wand, Hermione stepped out of the bathroom on still wobbly legs and into the hallway to find Draco, and hopefully something to eat.

She peered into the first two rooms and as she expected, found the two bedrooms, she continued down the hall, occasionally using the walls to steady herself, and peered into the room on the left, which she found to be a spacious living area with couches and a fireplace.

It was in the last room on the right side of the hallway that she found Draco; he was standing at the stove in a combined kitchen and dining area.

She smiled at the unusual sight of Draco Malfoy cooking, "You know how to cook?" She asked him from the doorway.

Draco turned and smiled "Don't tell my parents, I'm sure they would think it awfully common of me, but when I was younger I asked one of the house elves to teach me; it made playing 'muggles' that much more realistic"

The mention of Draco's parents had Hermione remembering the scene back at the Manor, but she shrugged it off and instead focussed on the last part of his sentence, "You used to play at being a _muggle_?" She asked, completely amazed.

If Draco noticed her initial hesitation he didn't show it, "Yeah, Pansy and I used to when we were little" he grinned, "we used to put this tent up in the Manor gardens and pretend we were a muggle couple." The grin turned into more of a grimace as he added, "I'm sure if either of our parents knew what we were playing they would have put a stop to it, but all they cared about was that we weren't being a nuisance."

Hermione cleared her throat, and forced a smile, not wanting Draco to dwell on the issue of his parents. "So, this is where you learned to cook then?" she asked.

"Mostly" he nodded, "but I also used to go down to the kitchens in the Manor."

Hermione came further into the room and gingerly leant against the dining room table, "So, what are you cooking today?"

"I didn't think you would want anything too rich, so just a simple beef stew. It should be ready soon; there's some bread and butter if you want something while we wait."

Hermione only ate quite a small portion of the thick stew, as she wasn't used to large meals after living off almost nothing for so long; but she thought that it was just about the best meal she had ever tasted, it was certainly the best meal she had had since she had been captured.

"I'm sorry about the clothes" Draco said once they had moved into the lounge room and he had started a fire in the fireplace. "I should have thought to bring some for you"

Hermione assured him that it was fine, and they fell into a light conversation about nothing that was important.

Before Hermione knew it, her exhaustion caught up with her and the fires warmth lulled her to sleep.

Draco watched as sleep came over Hermione, her head nodded back and her breathing evened out; the firelight flickering over her gaunt features.

He was rather exhausted himself, although it was still only early afternoon, but running for your life will tend to do that to you; not that he had had to run for his own life after escaping the Manor, Hermione had done that for the both of them.

He looked back over at the witch, who looked so frail that it was astonishing that they had even made it out of the Manor, let alone off the grounds and all the way to a safe deserted patch of woods.

He stood and walked over to her, carefully picking up her light frame and carrying her towards the bedrooms.

Hermione stirred as she felt herself being lifted, her eyes opening to see the curve of Malfoy's neck and the strong line of his jaw before they drifted shut again and she snuggled against him.

Her last thought before she let sleep completely overtake her was that she didn't think she wanted to be separated from this man ever again, so they would have to think up a very good way to prove to the Order that he really was trustworthy; but that could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

This was a bit of a filler chapter, but I felt like there were some important pieces of information in there, and our two favourite characters definitely needed a bit of R&R!! I hope you enjoyed it anyway! :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts! and feel free to yell at me for the long wait... sometimes I need to be pestered in order to gain the motivation to do anything!! haha!

Love to you all, I hope you all had a great christmas/new year (yes, I know it was a while ago!! haha)

xoxox


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I cannot tell you all how sorry I am for such a long wait! I am currently traveling, so it's been hard to find time to write!

Enjoy:

**_Chapter 12_**

When Draco awoke the next morning the first thing he did was jump out of bed and quietly open the door to Hermione's room. His heart slowed when he saw that she was sleeping peacefully, he had been worried that she would have nightmares about her time in captivity. Once he had made sure that she was fine, he took in her sleeping form. Her hair was a mess tangled and spread out over the pillow. Now that she was cleaned up, he could tell that she was a beautiful woman, although she could stand to put on a bit of weight.

Although he knew she was a powerful witch, while she was so physically weak, she looked so vulnerable. The idea of her ever being harmed again was impossible for him to think of, he vowed to himself that he would keep her safe, that she would never have to be put through the pain, both physical or mental, that she had just been though ever again. He stood there for few moments longer before slowly shutting her door and heading the bathroom run a bath for himself.

Hermione was having an amazing dream, for the first time since her capture she was in a luxuriously plush bed, she was warm and clean and she never wanted to wake up. She rolled over in the comfort of the imaginary bed and kept on sleeping.

She woke again an hour later to the sounds of water running and someone humming softly, she sighed and snuggled into the plush bedspread, revelling in the simple comfort of clean sheets and warmth, amazed that it was in fact reality and not in fact a dream as she had thought when she had woken earlier.

She thought about getting up, but decided that after what she'd been through she deserved a little R and R, so she closed her eyes again and pushed thoughts of finding the Order and keeping Draco safe out of her mind. The water stopped running and she heard the soft splashing sound of someone washing, the humming continued and lulled her back into a light sleep.

After his bath, Draco went and prepared breakfast; scrambled eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, crispy fried potatoes, and thick slices of fresh sourdough bread spread with creamy butter.

He knew Hermione probably wouldn't be able to eat much, but he never wanted her to be even the slightest bit hungry again.

He poured two tall glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice, placed everything on a large tray which he flicked his wand at the tray and walked out of the room, the tray hovering in front him.

Hermione woke up again to the sound and smell of bacon frying, she could hear Draco moving around the kitchen.

She slowly pushed herself upright and arranged the pillows behind her so that she could lean back against them and even just after that simple movement she felt out of breath, she couldn't believe how weak she had let herself become. The strength potion Draco had given her; as well as the adrenaline from their escape, had well and truly worn off now.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned back against the pillows, she felt like she could sleep for a year she was so exhausted. There was a light knock on the door and she called out that Draco could come in. He pushed open the door and held it wide as a steaming breakfast tray floated into the room before him.

After finishing Breakfast, - well, Hermione could only manage a little bit before becoming full, but Draco had no problem polishing off what she didn't eat – Hermione bathed and dressed in more of Pansies old clothes which she charmed to make them fit her now tiny frame.

She then joined Draco in the lounge area and thanked him for breakfast, though her eyes seemed to be thanking him for more than just a good meal. They sat in silence for a while and Hermione pondered ways to, a. find The Order if they weren't still at Grimmauld place; and b. get them to trust Draco enough to bring him under their protection.

She commented on the subject to Draco and they started to brainstorm ideas, not that Draco's ideas were particularly useful, not because he wasn't clever, but because he didn't know how Harry or The Order thought, he'd grown up with a completely different way of doing things.

Hermione stood up and began pacing, which was a bad idea as she suddenly found herself clutching the mantle piece in order to stay standing as a dizzy spell came over her.

Draco jumped to his feet in order to steady her, and he helped her back to the couch. "First things first Hermione" he said seriously, "you need to recover your strength. If we run into any trouble you need to be able to fight."

"We have to move quickly, I don't know how where the order is, and if they've heard news of my escape, we could end up doing circles if they then try to find me." At Draco's dubious look she added "I'll take another strength potion before we go."

Draco recognised that she was impatient to be back with her friends again. But they needed time to plan and she needed to recover. "Hermione, I'm sure they are clever enough that if they were to look for you they would still leave people at their base camp, which would mean that our chances of finding them would be higher, because they'd have people out searching as well as people back and the headquarters. I know that you know that." he told her, "and strength potions only last so long, we could be looking for them for days; it's too risky" he said matter of factly.

Hermione sighed, she did know all that. But she was impatient to be doing something useful, but she resigned herself to waiting until she had recovered when she considered the fact that her being weak in a crucial moment could not only endanger her life, but also Draco's and any of The Order members who might be with them.

"You're right, I know" she told him with a sigh slumping back in the couch, she itched to be out there finding her friends. "I just can't stand not doing anything."

"The best thing you can do right now, for yourself and for The Order is to recover." Draco replied, "You know that the sooner you regain your strength, the sooner we can find them."

Over the next few days Hermione continued to plan how they would find the order, yet no matter how hard she thought she could only think of one way... to simply go to each place she thought they might possibly be, and find them through the process of elimination.

And that was the easy part, there were only a few places that they could have set up as headquarters, other than those there were a few safe houses scattered around, and she was still holding out hope that they would still be at Grimmauld Place.

The hardest part would be getting them to accept Draco, there was no way that they would simply let him in with only Hermione to vouch for him. For all they knew Draco had tricked her into believing that he was trying to help her in order to infiltrate The Order. In fact she couldn't be sure that that wasn't what he was doing... although she truly believed him to be trustworthy.

As well as mulling over all of this, Hermione had been working on regaining her strength, it would take her a long time before she fully recovered, but she was making progress every day. She could now walk around the tent with ease, no longer relying on the walls for support, however; she frequently stumbled on her and Draco's walks in the forest, but he was always there to steady her. Despite her improvement she knew she couldn't walk for any long distances, or run even for a little while without becoming fatigued and feeling faint.

She continued to push herself everyday, like Draco had said, the sooner she was strong again, the sooner they could find The Order.

Without Draco there to encourage her, she felt that she would have fallen into despair; she had never been so weak, so helpless! She despised the feeling. But Draco's presence soothed her, he was always there to lend a hand or make some witty remark that never failed to make her laugh, and pull her from her mood.

Draco was worried about Hermione; he was scared each time she stumbled or fell that this was the time that she wouldn't get back up, that she would sit there under the weight of the situation they were in and give up.

Of course, he should have known better, Hermoine Granger was not the type of woman to give up, with or without a fight! But each time he saw her weakened state show, he tried to keep the mood light, entertaining her so that she wouldn't dwell on how weak she was at the moment.

He marvelled at her strength of character, each day she put on a brave face despite the terrors she had been through, despite the war raging around them, despite not knowing what she'd find when they got the The Order headquarters, not knowing how many friends she had lost.

Draco was in awe of her; her beauty, he sharp tongue and wit, her compassion, her strength. Everything about her was appealing to him; but even if she ever returned his feelings, he knew he could never be with her. She deserved so much more than him; he was ashamed of himself for who had been, for the pain he had caused and the blood he had shed.

He sighed and stroked a tendril of hair out of her face, pushing it behing her ear; she had fallen asleep leaning against his chest as they had sat in front of the fire that evening.

They had been staying in the tent for a little over a week now, and she had improved remarkably. He was pleased to see that there was fullness and colour returning to her cheeks.

They would have to go in search of The Order soon, he dreaded his reception, but he knew that Hermione needed her friends; and he wasn't going to lie to himself... he needed their protection.

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A/N: As always, Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)

Cheers,

Caseyjarryn


	13. Chapter 13

So, I know it's been a while, :/ sorry... but I haven't forgotten about my stories completely! A new chapter! ... bear in mind that this hasn't been beta'd... so I'm sorry if there are lots of mistakes!

enjoy...

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_Chapter 13_

After they had been in the forest for just under a month, they decided it was past time that they packed up the tent and went in search of the Order. Hermione had made great progress when it came to her strength, and with the help of a strength potion she thought that she would almost be back to her old self.

After packing up the tent, Hermione and Draco ensured that there was no trace of their stay left behind, Hermione removed the wards that had protected them for the duration of their stay in the forest, and they apparated away, making several jumps in case of the unlikely event that someone managed to find their camping site and tracked them from there.

The logical place to start was Grimmauld Place; however, since Hermione had been made the secret keeper she knew they wouldn't find anyone there – they would have left as soon as she was captured just in case she was forced into divulging their location. On the other hand because she was still secret keeper when she told Draco the address he was also able to see the house appear and enter the property with her.

As Hermione had expected, the place was deserted; there was no trace of the Order anywhere. Hermione and Draco looked around the house in case the Order had left any kind of clue to their current whereabouts that Hermione might be able to follow. Kreacher was nowhere to be found, and even if he had been there, he wouldn't have answered any of Hermione's questions, based on prejudice, and he wouldn't be able to answer Draco because it would be disobeying Harry. Although Hermione wasn't too sure if when faced with a Pure Blood member of the Black family Harry's orders wouldn't simply be disobeyed; Kreacher would have loved to serve Draco.

Chances were that Harry had realised the risk that Kreacher would have posed if he was left behind, and took him along with the Order to their new location.

Hermione gave up on finding any clues to the Orders whereabouts, it would have been too risky she supposed, in case Death Eaters searched the place and managed to figure the clues out themselves. She went up to the room that she and Ginny had shared before she had been captured to grab some of her own clothes and belongings, and as she closed the door her eyes caught on a shell magically stuck on the front of the door, she was quite sure that the decoration hadn't been there the last time she was here... and then it struck her, _Shell Cottage_! They had left a clue after all!

She ran down the stairs to share the news with Draco, speaking too loudly in her excitement and accidently waking the Painting of old Mrs Black, who gave Draco a fright when she started yelling about how she was shocked to see Draco turned a Blood Traitor, and how she had expected more from the son of her sister's daughter and Lucius Malfoy, that he should be ashamed of himself for consorting with filthy mudbloods. Hermione hoped that the paintings words wouldn't ring home with Draco, and make him rethink his decision to desert the Death Eaters, but when she looked at Draco he was scowling at the painting, clearly not impressed with what the old woman had to say.

They decided, since it was already evening, to spend the night at Grimmauld Place before going to the cottage the next morning, and so after eating some food they had brought with them, they made up the beds in Hermione and Ginny's room and got an early night, not knowing what to expect to find at Shell Cottage the next day.

Hermione was eager to get going in the morning and as soon as she had shut the door behind them, she grabbed Draco's arm and apparated to the small cottage on the seaside owned by Ron's brother, Bill, and his wife, Fleur. Because Hermione wasn't the secret keeper of Shell Cottage, Harry was, Draco was unable to even see the small cottage, and so Hermione asked him to wait when they reached the fence surrounding the cottages garden, while she continued inside to see if the Order were indeed here, and to get Harry to come out and allow Draco access. She squeezed Draco's hand before opening the gate and walked nervously up to the front door of the cottage and knocked.

The door was opened by Molly Weasley whose mouth dropped open at the sight of Hermione standing in the doorway, she was so surprised to see her that she didn't notice Draco standing just outside the property before she had ushered Hermione inside and pulled her into a huge a hug.

"Hermione? Is it really you?" gushed Molly, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Arthur! Harry! Everyone come quickly!" she called into the house, "Hermione's back!" the cottage was suddenly full of the sound of footsteps as just about the entire Order came rushing into the room. Suddenly she had three wands pointed at her; Arthur Weasley, Harry and Ginny all started firing questions at her. Hermione laughed and a tear trickled down her cheek, she had missed her friends so much.

"Slow down, guys, I can't answer all three questions at once." She smiled at them wiping her eyes.

Arthur went first with "How did you find us?" to which Hermione pulled out the shell she had taken off the door at Grimmauld Place and held it up.

"When did you, Ron and I become friends?" asked Harry

"Well, that's an easy one Harry. You and Ron have been friends ever since sitting together on the Hogwarts express at the start of our first year, and you became friends with me after you saved me from the troll in the girls bathroom."

"Who was the first person you ever slept with?" Asked Ginny next, surprising Hermione, who definitely hadn't expected that; but she answered anyway, "Is that a trick question, Gin? I've never slept with anyone." She blushed as she glanced at Molly and Arthur Weasley, clearly not as comfortable as Ginny mentioning sex in front of parents.

Ginny nodded and the three wands were lowered and she was suddenly engulfed by hugs, Ginny was crying along with Molly and they were all bombarding her with questions.

Meanwhile, Draco had been waiting patiently outside when he heard the pop of apparition behind him and turned to see a shocked and outraged Ron Weasley staring at him; Draco's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to explain, but before he could get any words out Ron had pulled out his wand started sending curses his way. Draco ducked as he pulled out his own wand, Weasley's curses sailing over the top of his head. He sent defensive spells back the direction of his attacker, trying to disarm him, all the while trying to explain what he was doing there. In the end he gave up trying to reason with Ron and started shouting for Hermione.

Hermione heard the commotion outside and pulled away from her friends hugs and rushed outside closely followed by everyone else.

"STOP!" Hermione shouted at Ron when she realised what was happening, pulling out her wand and running to stand in between Ron and Draco, she ducked as Ron hurled another curse towards Draco and heard Draco gasp in pain as the curse hit its intended mark. When Ron realised who was standing in front of him his mouth dropped open in shock, Hermione used the opportunity to quickly disarm him before turning to see if Draco was OK.

Draco's teeth were clenched in pain and he was clasping his left shoulder, which had been hit with the curse, with his right hand. Hermione could see blood leaking between his fingers and quickly realised what curse he'd been hit with, _sectumsempra_, and performed the counter charm to stop the bleeding. There was still a deep gash in Draco's arm that would take longer to heal, but at least he wouldn't bleed to death. She turned to face Ron and the rest of the Order, keeping Draco behind her in case anyone else decided to start flinging spells around, her hair had come out of its elastic and was blowing across her face in the strong breeze coming off the sea.

When she was sure that no one would attack straight away she briefly explained what had happened since her capture, focussing on the points that concerned Draco; that he had helped her escape from the Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor, and how he had come to despise the values held by the other Death Eaters, and that he was switching sides and wanted to help them.

She could tell that their story wasn't immediately believed; they didn't trust that Draco hadn't just freed her as a rouse in order to locate the Order, which she supposed, was what she had expected their reaction to be. Luckily, when Draco offered to give up his wand, take veritaserum and remain under guard inside the cottage until they deemed him trustworthy, they relaxed slightly and agreed to give them the benefit of the doubt until everything could be explained more thoroughly; it wasn't complete trust, but it was all Hermione had hoped for. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and waited as Harry revealed the cottage to Draco before walking inside holding Draco's hand, squeezing it in reassurance, unaware of the look of betrayal and hatred on Ron's face as he watched her walk inside, hand in hand with his long time enemy.

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Reviews are always greatly appreciated :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling and I do not own the rights to these characters... I just like playing with them from time to time :)**

So... it's been a while. I hope you can all forgive my absence and that some of you at least actually remember the rest of the story (I know I had to re read it myself a few times before I could continue writing!)

I've challenged myself to finish both my incomplete stories, so hopefully you'll be seeing at least a chapter a month from me until they're done. I may need you to help me hold myself to it, so feel free to pester me with PMs if I'm late uploading a chapter!

Anyway, enough with the chitchat and on with the show!

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_Chapter 14_

Draco was wary as he entered the cottage, fully aware that he was not trusted or wanted here. If it wasn't for Hermione, no promise in the world would have granted him entry into the Orders safe house. He was conscious of Ron glaring daggers at his back and he stepped closer to Hermione, to the only person here who wouldn't sooner see him dead than offer him asylum.

He couldn't blame them, he supposed, he'd never given them any reason to trust him, he'd never had the courage to show any sign of his changing alliances. He lowered his gaze to his feet, feeling more ashamed than ever about his past actions and the hurt he had caused.

...

Hermione felt his posture change and again squeezed his hand in reassurance, only then realising that they were holding hands, fingers interwoven; she wasn't sure when exactly she had come to find Draco's presence so comforting. Had she pictured this moment before their escape she could more easily see herself running into Ron's arms, finding comfort in the familiarity of home and friends. But somehow she had changed during her time imprisoned and again during her time alone with Draco, and she wasn't sure how she should act around these people. It wasn't that they were unfamiliar; it was that she was unfamiliar to herself. She wasn't sure what she was feeling; relief, certainly, at being safe, at being home. But she was also feeling disappointed that her time with Draco may be coming to an end, that now that they were here he wouldn't need her anymore; he'd fulfilled his part of the bargain and she'd fulfilled hers. She grasped his hand tighter, not wanting to let go of him just yet, not wanting to share him with anyone and knowing that she would have to, the order would need to know everything about why he was changing sides and they wouldn't leave him with any secrets left of his own after he was through questioning. She knew that it was necessary, but still she felt herself wanting to protect him from the indignity of having himself laid bare before these people who held his life in their hands.

They were led towards the main meeting room, which held a circular table in the centre of the room. Before they were asked to take a seat Harry held out his hand for Draco's wand, despite giving them the benefit of the doubt and allowing Draco to explain himself they weren't about to take any chances; Draco handed it over reluctantly. The circular table was spelled so that any number of people could fit around it, so when they went to take seat and the table appeared to be already full, they merely stepped between Harry and Arthur and two chairs magically appeared behind them.

Once everyone had filed into the room and taken a seat at the table Harry cleared his throat causing the whispers in the room to abruptly fall silent. "I know that you must be exhausted, Hermione" Harry started, looking at her gently, "but I hope you understand that we need to find out what happened after your capture and the details of how you managed to escape, and more importantly if we can trust that Malfoy can be believed when he says he wants to join our cause and fight with us against Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Ron scoffed at the possibility of Draco being trustworthy and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to scowl. Harry ignored the interruption and continued "I know it will likely be difficult Hermione, but would you be willing to recount the events that have occurred since your capture?" He looked at Hermione with regret, knowing that her time with the Death Eaters had most likely not been pleasant, Hermione nodded knowing that it had to be done and she might as well get it out of the way.

He turned to Ginny, "Ginny, would you mind taking Draco into the next room? Secure him to his chair, I don't want to take any chances and I want to get separate accounts from each of them" He looked over at another witch across the table, "Hestia, would you go with them?" Ginny and Hestia agreed and they each got up and stood either on either side of Draco's chair waiting for him to get up. Hermione gave his hand one last squeeze and slowly let her fingers fall from his as he stood. She felt cold without his comforting presence beside her and watched his retreating back as he was led from the room. She sighed and turned back to the Order members around the table, Harry nodded at her to begin and so she brought forth the memories of the early days of her capture and tried not fall back in the despair and terror she had been in while imprisoned.

...

Draco was nervous as he was led from the meeting room, he didn't want Hermione to have to relive the experience she had had while under his father's care. Once the door had been closed between the two rooms Ginny cast a silencing charm so he couldn't hear anything that was being said in the meeting room and the other witch, Hestia, gestured for him to take a seat in one of the armchairs that crowded around a low wooden coffee table in the centre of the room. He sighed and took a seat, resigning himself to being magically 'secured' in place, at least the chair looked comfortable. Once he sat down Hestia cast a charm that left him able to move around on the chair but unable to get up off the chair.

Ginny was standing across from him with her arms crossed, she looked unimpressed with the idea of there being a Malfoy in her home. "So what's your plan?" She asked, "You've clearly managed to charm Hermione into trusting you, but while she may be the greatest witch of our age, she is far too soft hearted and trusting." She sat down on the chair across from him and pursed her lips, After a moment she said simply, "I'm not so easily fooled."

Draco's lip twitched as he fought and failed to keep a scowl from his face. He may be sorry for the things his father and the Dark Lord made him do, but he was still a Malfoy and the idea of needing to be polite to the Weasley's, especially when they weren't returning the favour, was not one that he was going to get used to easily. He looked away from her and managed to keep himself from making a scathing retort; he needed to gain the Order's trust, and that included the Weasley's, he wouldn't be making a good start by acting like the same old Draco that they knew and loathed. He shifted uncomfortable in his seat painfully aware that Ginny was still glaring at him and he wished he was able to get up and pace the room while waiting for Hermione to be finished.

Time ticked by slowly, Ginny had taken his lead and was now ignoring him, but as Draco studied her for a moment he realised that she looked like she was listening to something intently and he realised that her silencing charm was selective – it was only him that couldn't hear what was being said next door. He scowled again, wishing that he'd been allowed to remain in the meeting room, or at least have some way to know that Hermione was ok. Theoretically he knew that these were her friends and that they wouldn't push her to talk about anything that was too painful for her to remember, but he couldn't help be uncomfortable at being away from her, not knowing what was happening behind the closed door. He hoped that she wouldn't get a hard time for bringing him back here with her and he watched Ginny's face for signs of what was going on next door but to his frustration her face wasn't giving anything away so he gave up and studied the room they were in instead.

Sometime later he felt himself dozing off when the door to the meeting room opened suddenly, startling him awake. He tried to jump up from the chair but was stopped by the spell that had been placed on him. Harry came into the room, looking tired "Ron is showing Hermione to her room and Molly is getting her some food, she's exhausted. We'll take a quick break and interrogate Malfoy after everyone's had some lunch." He said facing toward Ginny, speaking as though Draco wasn't even in the room. At the mention of lunch Draco's stomach rumbled and he realised that he and Hermione hadn't eaten breakfast that morning in their rush to get the order headquarters. He mentally cursed himself for not taking better care of Hermione, she was still malnourished and way too thin; she needed regular meals to keep her strength up. Draco cleared his throat causing Harry to turn towards him, "May I go and see her?" He asked Harry, he wanted to make sure she was ok. Harry raised an eyebrow and turned back to Ginny without answering him, "Keep him here, I'll bring you all some food." '_Well', _thought Draco dejectedly, '_I guess that's a no then._' He slumped back in his chair wishing that he could stretch his legs, or that he at least had a book to read to pass the time.

Harry left the room and returned a few minutes later carry a tray of food, he handed each of them a plate of sandwiches and a glass of water; at least they weren't planning on starving him. Before Draco could start on his meal, Harry pulled a small vial from the pocket of his muggle jeans and proceeded to pour the clear contents into Harry's glass. "Veritaserum" Harry said by way of explanation, "Drink".

Draco looked at the glass with his lips pressed together in a hard line, he hated the idea that in just hours all his inner thoughts and emotions would be laid bare before these people, he understood why he had to take it though... it was the only way that they would even begin to trust anything he told them. Draco downed the glass of water in three gulps and set the empty glass on the table in front of him next to his sandwiches. Harry had his wand out in one hand and a bundle of clothing in the other, Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm going to lift the restrainment charm from you, then you'll stand up slowly and change out of your robes and into these" Harry said, raising the hand holding the clothing. Draco looked towards Ginny and Hestia and then back to Harry, "Do I get some privacy?" He asked and Harry answered by gesturing to the witches to turn around, Harry himself remained facing him, wand at the ready. Draco sighed, "Fine" he said to Harry "Lift the charm". When Harry hesitated looking at him with suspicion Draco raised his hands in a gesture of peace, wincing slightly as he moved his left shoulder, "I'll get up, change clothes and sit back down, you have nothing to worry about" He said impatiently, adding "I don't even have my wand for Merlin's sake". Appeased, Harry lifted the charm and gestured for Draco to stand. Harry averted his gaze as Draco stripped off completely and handed Draco the set of clothes he'd been holding. Once Draco had changed and sat back down Harry replaced the charm on the seat and collected Draco's clothing from the floor before leaving the room.

Ginny and Hestia returned to their seats and all three of them ate their lunch in silence. Draco's stomach was knotted with nerves; what would happen if what he had to tell them wasn't enough for them to take the risk of keeping him here under their protection? He didn't want to think about what would happen if he was left to fend for himself and the Death Eaters caught up with him. He had to make himself seem like an asset he had to make the order understand that he was on their side and that he would make a valuable ally.

Realistically he only had to wait for about 15 minutes before Harry came back into the room and Gestured for Draco to be brought in, but the minutes ticking by felt like hours and he could feel a sheen of sweat building on his brow.

He wiped his hands on the borrowed jeans as he stood up and stepped back through the door into the meeting room.

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Thanks for Reading!

As always, reviews are appreciated :)

Love to you all

xox


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Hermione was exhausted by the time she finished explaining her capture, imprisonment and finally her escape with Draco. Once she finished speaking the Order members around the table bombarded her with questions. They wanted to know about whether she had learned much about the Death Eaters habits and location, about anything she might have learned during her absence that might be of use to the Order's cause, but the thing that most of the members questioned her about was Draco Malfoy. How did she know that he really had shifted his allegiance? If he _had_ genuinely had a change of heart, did he want to actively join the fight against You Know Who, or was he merely trying escape to save himself? How did she know that he wasn't a Death Eater spy, ordered to gain her trust and infiltrate the Order from the inside? Did she have proof? What did she mean she had no proof, why did she bring him here?

Hermione struggled with these questions; she had no definitive proof, only her own intuition and belief. The only thing that came close to proof was the events on the night of their escape; Lucius had definitely used the Cruciatus curse on his son, and Draco had told her to run despite the fact that he had been unable to follow, if she hadn't returned for him he would have had no way of following her to the Order's headquarters. She had hoped that would be enough, but she knew the Order members well enough to know that some of them still believed that it was all a set up. She knew that they had a right to be upset with her; she _was _risking a lot by bringing Draco here, but she still felt frustrated. Hopefully Draco would manage to clear his own name and ease their fears while under the influence of the truth serum.

"Well" Harry said finally, "I think that that is enough questions for Hermione today." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as Harry addressed everyone around the table, "We'll take a short break before we begin to question Malfoy. Get something to eat and have a think about questions you want answered by him. We only have two regular sized doses of veritaserum left in stock and I'll be giving both to Malfoy during the break so that it is in full effect by the time the questioning begins – this means that it will be the only opportunity to ask him questions under the influence of the truth serum, so make sure to think hard about what you want to ask about. It is my hope that the larger that usual dosage will make up for any resistance he may have to the serum and also have a stronger effect, limiting his ability to lie by omission or by using half truths." Once Harry had finished speaking the Order members started talking amongst themselves as they wandered from the room. He gestured for Hermione to follow Molly Weasley into the kitchen to get something to eat but when she stood from her chair Hermione suddenly felt dizzy, her vision blurring; white shapes like static on an old TV swirled in front of her eyes. If it wasn't for Ron stepping forward and steadying her she most likely would have fainted. After a moment her vision cleared, though she still felt light headed.

"I'll take her to get some rest" said Ron, concern in eyes, "Mum, would you bring something for Hermione to eat?" He asked, turning to his mother.

"Yes, of course, Dear." Molly replied before bustling out to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Hermione wanted to see Draco, she wanted to be present for his questioning, so she resisted the light pressure that Ron had applied to the small of her back as he tried to shepherd her out of the room. "I'd like to stay" she said firmly, "I want to be here when you question Draco." Ron scowled at this but it was Harry who answered.

"I'm sorry, Hermione" Harry said sincerely, "but you can't be here for that, we need to make sure that both of your versions of events match and that we remove the chance of your conferring together as much as we can." He then quickly added, "Not that we think that you would be assisting him if he had anything that he needed to hide from us, or that you have lied about anything that happened to you, but we just need to cover all bases so that once everything is said and done no one can argue that we didn't do enough to ensure that we could trust each of your accounts." He smiled apologetically, and Hermione's shoulders slumped; she couldn't argue with his reasoning but she didn't like his answer all the same.

"So I can't see him at all until after you have finished questioning him?" she asked, biting her lip. She wasn't sure why she felt so vulnerable all of a sudden, she fought back the tears that threatened to fill her eyes, her throat aching. She knew that Ron was right, when he said softly, "Come on 'Mione, you need to get some rest, you look exhausted." She _was_ exhausted, she thought to herself; she could barely keep her eyes open. But Hermione was stubborn and she didn't want Draco to think that the friendship that had been building between them meant nothing now that she was safely away from the Death Eaters, back with the Order; back with her friends. She didn't want to leave him to have to fend for himself among these people who despised and mistrusted him.

She came up with a compromise; she would get some rest and stay away from Draco during his questioning but she would be able to see him as soon as it was all done and they were free to speak to each other again. "Ok," she told her two best friends, "I'll go take a nap and have something to eat, but you'll wake me up as soon Draco is finished." She looked each of them in the eye, "yes?" she demanded, wanting to be sure of their agreement.

"Sure" replied Harry, Ron nodded grudgingly in acceptance; they both wanted to get her into bed as soon as they could; she looked terribly gaunt and pale, her eyes shadowed.

"Ok, good." Mumbled Hermione "Thanks, guys" she smiled at each of them and, feeling more relaxed, let Ron lead her towards the female dorm room on the second floor of the cottage.

Hermione crawled into the single bed that Ron led her to without bothering to get changed. She shifted over slightly giving Ron room to sit on the edge of the bed. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Molly bustled into the room a tray of sandwiches and two glasses of water floating in front of her, she laid it down on the bedside table next to Hermione's head with a swish of her wand before coming over and leaning over Hermione.

"I'm so glad you're home" she said smiling, emotion causing her eyes to tear "we've all been so worried." The kindly woman leant down and kissed Hermione on the cheek and left the room, wiping her damp cheeks as she closed the door behind her.

Hermione took half a sandwich to nibble on before she looked back to Ron, who seemed to be studiously studying his feet. "Is something wrong?" she asked taking in his anguished expression.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione." He said quietly his voice shaking. Hermione took his hand in hers trying to reassure him that she didn't blame him at all for her capture.

"It wasn't your fault, Ron." She told him softly, "There wasn't anything you could have done; we were caught by surprise, it wasn't anyone's fault."

Ron's face was still downcast, his eyes staring at the carpet, "I should have waited until you had disapparated before leaving, I should have made sure you were safe." His voice cracked and his tears started to fall as he squeezed his eyes shut in guilt and regret. "I'm so sorry; I've been so worried about you! I'm so glad you're home, I'm so sorry" He choked out, words tumbling together. He pulled his hand from hers and covered his face, swiping his tears away facing away from her.

Hermione discarded the half eaten sandwich she was holding and reached up to pull him towards her, shifting in the bed so he could lie next to her on top of the covers. "It's ok." She told him softly, "I'm ok. Everything will be ok." Her words faded into a whisper as she drifted into an exhausted slumber.

Ron continued to cry silently for a moment longer, holding her close as she slept. He leant in and brushed a kiss over her forehead before settling back and closing his eyes, listening to her soft breath. He marvelled at the feeling of having her in his arms again; having her home, having her safe.

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**A/N:** I contemplated waiting a few days before posting this chapter so that I could make it longer and include the next scene with Draco; but I decided that I would post it tonight so you could have it sooner.

Hope you enjoyed it, though I know a lot of you are impatient for more Hermione/Draco interaction! Just be patient - there will be plenty of that coming ;)


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **A big thank you to all those who posted reviews! I hope everyone is having lovely Easter weekend :o)

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_Chapter 16_

"Ok, Malfoy" started Harry once everyone was seated, causing Draco to look away from the quick quotes quill that was set up in the centre of the table, "we're going to start by asking you some simple questions about yourself, before moving on to the more pressing questions." Draco nodded in understanding, prompting Harry to clear his throat and continue, "I'll try to word the questions so they only require straightforward answers. Ok, first off; what is your birth name?" Draco raised his eyebrows, but understood that Harry was just starting off with things that most people already knew the answer to, and if he was sarcastic and gave a false answer they would know that the veritaserum wasn't affecting him.

"Draco Malfoy" he replied wondering how long this whole process would take if Harry insisted on asking many of these obvious questions.

"What is your date of birth?" asked Harry seeming bored with these questions himself, anxious to start getting some real answers from him.

"The fifth of June nineteen eighty" He replied simply.

After a couple more questions like this – What school did you go to? What house were you in? What are your parents' names? Etcetera – Harry said "right, thanks Malfoy. I'll now be asking you questions pertinent to your supposed change of alliance and the rescue of Hermione." He rolled out a piece of parchment in front of him and tapped it with his wand, the words rearranging themselves on the page. It seemed that to keep the proceedings in some semblance of order the other Order members had written their questions down on the parchment and Harry would be the only one asking the questions.

Harry cleared his throat and got straight to the point, "Are you here to spy on the order for Voldemort?"

To which Draco replied simply, "No." Harry decided he need to widen the scope of the question and asked again, "Are you here to gather information about the Order?" Draco gave the same answer again, Harry nodded and moved on; "Are you still taking orders from Voldemort or any of his Death Eaters?" When the answer was again, 'no' Harry followed with, "Why not?"

Draco gave short an unamused laugh, "Because the only order the Dark Lord would give me after helping the Mudblood escape would be to go Avada myself." He felt the Order members bristle at the term 'mudblood' and he regretted his choice of words and cringed; wishing that his vocabulary would catch up with his opinions.

"Is that the only reason you're not still taking his orders? Because you've betrayed him and he's not the forgiving type?" Harry asked slowly.

"I haven't been following his orders for a while now." Draco replied. "Or rather, I haven't been following my father's orders for a while now; I was rarely given orders directly from the Dark Lord himself." He explained. "Even before Hermione was captured I tried to avoid doing things for my father, sometimes there was nothing I could do, and I had to grit my teeth and do horrible things to keep my disloyalty from being discovered" A shadow passed over Draco's face as the remembered screams of innocent muggles and muggleborns reverberated around his head, making him feel ill. "I, I won't lie" Draco continued, "Not that could, I suppose" He added as an afterthought "I have tortured and killed innocent people during this war" He kept his eyes lowered not wanting to see the disgust and horror on faces around him, he continued quietly, "but I never once enjoyed it, and in the last year or so I only ever did it if there was no believable excuse for me to get out of it; when the alternative was my own torture and death."

"So before this past year you didn't have a problem with torture and murder?" Harry asked, causing Draco to scowl.

"I'll tell you again, I've _never_ enjoyed torture or murder."

"So why have you only avoided participating in the practice in the last year? Why not before?"

Draco looked Harry in the eyes for a moment, his gaze haunted, "I did what I was told, and I tried not to think about it."

"Ok" said Harry, glancing at the other order members, ensuring that no one else had anything further to ask in regards to this matter, before moving on. "So when you decided to rescue Hermione you had no ulterior motives?"

Draco raised his eyebrows and said simply "Of course I did." There were satisfied and outraged mutters around the room, all of which seemed to be in the same vein as 'See, I told you we couldn't trust him'.

When it was clear he wasn't going to elaborate on that Harry asked, "And what other motives did you have in rescuing Hermione?"

"I can at times be a very selfish person." Draco explained. "I was sick of pretending to be a person that I'm not, sick of fearing that my distaste for the Lord's cause would be discovered. I tired, and I wanted out. I knew that gaining the protection of the Order was the only hope I had of not being discovered if I escaped. Hermione was simply my ticket out of that hell hole." He was quiet for a moment, "At first that was the only reason I was willing to help her, the act of helping her itself only a secondary concern. It might come as a surprise to those of you who knew me at Hogwarts, but I've always looked up to Hermione, always admired her. I hated her too, of course, for making me question my family's values; I was so confused during that period of my life. It had been years since I'd last seen her though, I'd forgotten how much passion she had, and as I spent more time in her presence my priorities started to shift. It wasn't long before my main focus was on getting her out of that place, making sure she was safe." The room was quiet for a moment. "So yes, I had other motives in rescuing Hermione. But in the end, she was my only focus. She was all that mattered."

After a moment Harry cleared his throat, "So, you felt no qualms in turning your back on your family and your family's values?"

Draco felt a twinge of guilt, he opened his mouth to say simply that no, he didn't have any issues with turning his back on his family, but found himself explaining that while he had no problems going against the values that he had been brought up with, he felt guilty for leaving his mother behind. He clenched his teeth, hating that he couldn't control what came out of his mouth. He wanted to tell Harry to mind his own fucking business when he was asked to explain why.

His eyes flashed with irritation as he opened his mouth to continue. Narcissa had had a kind heart once but his father had slowly worn it away until she was a shell of the woman she had once been. Draco still remembered what she was like while he was growing up. Draco sighed, he hadn't heard his mother laugh in about 5 years and it had been longer since he's heard her sing; his mother's singing filled the memories of his early childhood. The painful fact was that had Draco tried to include her in his plans of escape Narcissa would have betrayed them to Lucius, she had been perfectly trained to be his obedient trophy wife and she no longer had any will of her own. Draco felt as though she had abandoned him, escaping behind a shield of cold indifference, leaving him to endure father's twisted sense of justice and family obligation. Despite this, he felt like there should have been something he could have done to shield her from Lucius, though realistically he knew that he had only been a child when Lucius started to hurt her. But maybe if he got her away from him now, maybe she could be saved; maybe her icy shield could be melted and the loving mother he had once known would sing again.

Harry continued once Draco's explanation had trailed off, giving no impression that he had noticed Draco's discomfort, "You didn't say whether you felt guilty or uncomfortable for turning your back on your father. Despite how he has treated you and your mother, do you still feel in anyway loyal to Lucius?" He asked.

Draco raised his eyebrows and decided a simple and definite "No" would suffice. Harry nodded, having expected the answer.

"And do you think there are other Death Eaters with the same reservations as you? Who simply follow orders, fearing retribution if they defect and switch their allegiance?" Harry asked.

"It's not something that anyone would advertise, so I don't know of anyone in particular, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I think that a lot if not most Death Eaters follow the Dark Lord out of fear rather than loyalty." Draco replied. "I'm not necessarily saying that they would fight against him if given a chance, but they might prefer to stay out of things."

Harry nodded, "And what about you Draco? Will fight against the Dark Lord? Will you stand with the Order of Phoenix?"

Draco didn't know what to say for a moment, on the one hand he wanted to see Voldemort defeated, but on the other hand he wasn't sure he was ready to face his family in battle, or face battle at all for that matter. He hesitated before answering, though why he bothered thinking about his answer before speaking he didn't know, as his thoughts just tumbled straight from his mouth no matter what he thought he was about to say.

Harry again nodded in understanding and started asking about what Draco knew about Voldemort's plans as well as anything else he knew that might help the order. To which Draco replied, surprise surprise, with the truth. He hadn't been part of the Dark Lords inner circle, and as such didn't know much about the long term plans for the war, but he did know the locations of several Death Eater camps and information about a few upcoming raids that he had caught wind of in the last week.

Draco was exhausted after the questioning was over; he remained seated in stunned silence while the Order members started debating where to go from this point onwards. Some of the more cynical Order members believed that given that he had volunteered to take the veritserum it must mean that he had taken the antidote and none of his answers could be trusted; thankfully they were in the minority with only two of the members thinking this way. However despite most of the Order members believed that he was telling the truth, they still didn't feel comfortable with the idea of him being privy to confidential Order information or even with the idea of him being free to roam the house while they were sleeping; they felt that there was a chance that he might decide that he like his old ways better, or if it looked as though Voldemort might win he might want to be on the winning side of war, and would change his allegiances again, betraying the Order.

It was eventually agreed that he would only remain here at Shell Cottage until they found a suitable civilian safe house for him to stay; where he would be safe from Death Eaters but wouldn't be a risk to the Order.

Draco was just about falling asleep at this point, but the decision caused him to jerk awake. He knew that moving to a safe house would mean saying goodbye to Hermione; there was no way she would step down from active duty with the Order, not even after being captured and tortured – if anything her time with the Death Eaters would only increase her determination to finally defeat the Dark Lord. But it didn't seem like there was anything he would be able to do in order to keep himself here, close to her. He also didn't want to further air his growing feelings for the witch, knowing that she likely didn't feel the same way – how could she? Despite having turned over a new leaf, Draco had still made her life hell all through their time at Hogwarts. He decided that there was no point fighting the Order's decision, he would just have to get over his feelings for Hermione; in fact, he thought, '_if I don't see her for a while the feelings will probably just go away on their own, _It's not as though I'm in love with her_...'_

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__I've got most of the next chapter written already, so it should be up in a few days!

Don't forget to Review ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **A new chapter! Hooray! Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed/favourited this story!

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_Chapter 17_

Once the Order's decision was made, Harry proclaimed the day's proceedings over; everyone started standing, stretching their legs and wandering off to various occupations around the house to wait until dinner was ready. No one spoke to Draco, most just whispered to each other, sending the occasional glance his way. Draco sighed; he hoped that the veritaserum would wear off soon, and that nobody spoke to him until it did.

As he stepped out of the meeting room, not really sure what to do with himself, he was hopeful that Hermione would be waiting for him. He looked around eagerly before he remembered that Harry had told Ginny that Weasley had taken Hermione to have a nap; The Weasel had never returned to the meeting room. Draco grit his teeth together trying to suppress the jealousy that coursed through him at that thought. He tried to relax, telling himself that he may as well start getting over these unwanted feelings for her now, he was going to have to get used to the idea that she would see other men. '_Yes_' he thought to himself darkly, '_but did it really have to be Weasley?_' Of course it did, they'd been mooning over each other all through their time at Hogwarts he recalled with a scowl.

Draco sat down for a moment before standing and pacing the room, not knowing how to occupy himself until dinner time. But dinner rolled around quickly and as he was preparing to take a seat at the dining table Ron shuffled into the room, his hair dishevelled. Draco's jaw clenched but his eyes flicked past Weasley to the space behind him, he tried not to be too disappointed when Hermione failed to appear.

Ron sat down at the table, telling Harry, who was helping Mrs Weasley serve dinner, that Hermione was sleeping. Draco could have sworn that Harry's eyes flickered toward Draco guiltily before he answered, nodding at Ron.

"Let her sleep" he said, "She looked as though she could use some rest."

Draco supposed that that was true, but he still wished he could have seen her, even for a moment; after spending all their time together for close to an entire month, it felt strange to have been apart from her even just for the day. He sighed and sullenly turned to the meal that had been placed before him.

Later that night Harry led Draco to the small room in which he'd be staying. The room had been a storage room but it had been magically cleaned out and some of the furniture transformed so that it now contained a double bed that had been crammed into the room, only leaving room on the side of the bed closest to the door, the other three sides of the bed were pushed up against the walls. There was also a set of drawers that doubled as a bed side table pushed into the corner at the head of the bed leaving about a square metre of floor space empty in front of the door.

"This is where you'll be sleeping until we find a safe house willing to take you," said Harry, "It will be locked when the last of us go to bed in the evenings and will automatically unlock when the first person gets up the day." He explained. "It might be a few weeks before we find somewhere else for you to stay, so try to make yourself comfortable. Your belongings as well as some spare clothes are in the draws." Before Harry could make it out the door Draco cleared his throat.

"So, I'm locked in all night?" Draco started, "What if I need to use the bathroom during the night?" He asked awkwardly raising his eyebrows

Harry grimaced, "There's uh – there's a chamber pot under the bed." Harry replied quickly, closing the door on Draco's look of distaste. Draco had never been gladder that he didn't usually need to use the bathroom through the night.

Draco turned to the drawers and looked for his wand, scowling when it wasn't with the rest of his belongings. They clearly didn't entirely trust him then, he thought with a sigh. He turned back to the door to go ask Harry when he could expect his wand to be returned to him, but the door was already locked. And with that, there was nothing else for Draco to do but strip down to his underwear and climb into the soft, lumpy bed.

Draco thought that he'd fall asleep quickly; he'd been on the brink of falling asleep all afternoon but as soon as he was tucked up in bed he lay awake, tossing and turning. He been worrying about whether the Order would believe him and off him protection for the last month, but now that he was here and he finally had their protection he had no idea what to expect. He had no idea how people would act around him, or if he would ever feel at home around these people.

He eventually drifted into a light sleep tormented by dreams about the Order deciding not to trust him and throwing him back to his father. Suddenly the dream shifted and he was 8 years old again and running to his mother in tears after his father had killed his puppy for peeing on the carpet in his study. His mother enveloped him in her arms but the dream dissolved and he was outside the closed doors of his father's study listening to his mother's screams.

Draco woke in a clammy sweat, the bed sheets tangled around him, he heard the floor boards above him creak and he realised it was the lock on the door clicking open that had woken him. He groaned as he checked the time and realised it was only 3am, but he knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep; he wasn't sure he even wanted to go back to sleep.

He heard the shower start running and decided to get up, thinking it would be better to face the Order members one at a time as everyone got up instead of all at once at breakfast. He stretched before pulling on a pair of loose pyjama pants and padding out to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

...

Hermione woke slowly to the soft sounds of a room of sleeping women and she cursed Harry and Ron for not waking her, though she was glad of the sleep she had wanted to see Draco and find out what decisions had been made. Her heart thudded as she worried over what the Order had decided regarding Malfoy, though she assumed that she would have been woken if anything drastic had happened yesterday afternoon; at least she hoped that someone would have woken her.

She checked the time; it wasn't quite 3am which meant she'd just slept for over 12 hours. There was no way she was going to get any more sleep so she decided she may as well get up. She slipped out of the room and headed down the hall, deciding to take a shower before everyone else woke up and wanted to use the bathroom.

She showered quickly before drying her hair and changing into a pair of knee length sweat pants and a comfy t-shirt. After eating only half a sandwich the day before, she was starving. Hermione yawned and stretched before leaving the steamy warmth of the bathroom.

Hermione was surprised by the leap her heart made when she saw Draco already sitting in the kitchen when she got there. He had his back to her, and she could see that there was a pot of tea steeping in front of him. She paused for a moment, admiring the play of muscles across his bare back as he shifted slightly reaching up to turn the page of the book he was holding.

He hadn't noticed that she was there yet, and she almost didn't want to disturb him; it was only after seeing him so relaxed that she realised how stiff he held himself when he was around other people. She took a step forward and the floor board beneath her foot creaked, advertising her presence in the room. Draco looked up from the book in his hands, his shoulders stiffening; he relaxed again when he saw that it was Hermione, though not completely, Hermione noticed.

Hermione smiled at him unsure of what to say and not sure why her breathing was suddenly shallow. She blushed and looked away when he didn't return her smile; his gaze remained on her intently, his eyes raking over her. He realised what he was doing and forced his features into a more relaxed expression, finally returning her smile.

Hermione pulled out the chair next to him and sat at the table, helping herself to a cup of the tea he had made, adding a splash of milk before cradling the cup in her hands. She had so many questions for him about the previous day, but she also didn't want to disturb the quiet of the early morning just yet. She took a sip of tea and looked over at Draco; she sat there for a moment taking in all his features. He didn't look too worried, and he was unguarded, so his questioning the day before must have gone well, she thought to herself, relieved.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you yesterday" she told him quietly, Draco merely shrugged in reply pouring himself a second cup of tea. "I asked that I be woken as soon as you were done, but that clearly didn't happen" she frowned in annoyance at Harry and Ron. She thought she saw a pleased look flicker over Draco's face at this, but he masked his expression.

"You needed the sleep" he replied understandingly. Hermione nodded slightly, unsure what to say; he seemed much more distant than he had while they'd been camping together. Her worries about whether he'd want to have anything to do with her now that he'd gotten what he needed from her resurfaced. She didn't think that she had imagined their growing friendship, but she had always been fairly insecure; perhaps she'd just imagined their closeness.

"So, the Order will let you stay here then?" she asked him and Draco explained their decision to find another safe house for him.

"That's great, Draco!" she told him with faux enthusiasm, trying not to show the disappointment she felt at learning that he wouldn't be staying here with the Order. She got up to make herself some breakfast, needing a moment to compose her features; she sat back down with a bowl of cereal, opposite him this time.

She tried to shake the mood she was in; just because he wouldn't be living here didn't mean that she would never see him, she thought to herself. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she was in denial about her feelings for him; if she'd just wanted to be his friend there wouldn't be a problem with him staying elsewhere, she'd still see him every couple of months and he'd be safer away from the Order. But every time her heart tried to tell her that he was starting to become more than just a friend she would dismiss the feelings.

It was not so easy to dismiss her feelings this morning, with the knowledge that, after a month of living together, they would have to say goodbye; and with the fact that, with Draco sitting half naked before her, she simply could not keep her eyes off him.

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Thanks for Reading and please take a moment to Review if you're enjoying my work!

Casey


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